[Iluvcars]

Sorry state of affairs. The less said the better. Ironically, it was on Aug 15th!

[Iluvcars]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

I totally agree with MX6.. With even the slightest hint of the situation turning hostile, and the strength of people in the other car being more than your own, its best not to stop at all.

MX6 & Abhinav, At times there is an even worse risk of trying that. If they manage to call their friends and relatives that can way-lay your vehicle while you run, you can imagine what would follow. In my opinion, in such instances, one is totally at the mercy of the goons - Period. The sad truth is such is life on Indian roads.

[fine69]

Never ever stop if you can get away and that's one rule I swear by. Though I've never been in such extreme situations but if I was and the road in front was wide open I'd just push the pedal to the metal (considering the condition of the other car and who has more horses).

Once on my way from Agra to Bharatpur an i10 had some 4 guys (drunk most probably) driving rashly and totally zig-zag and that too in broad daylight. Upon seeing the right opportunity I overtook them at a speed of 100 kmph, around 10-15 kmph more than they would've been. Seeing my wife in the car they whistled in those 3-4 seconds while I overtook them. When I made eye contact they went insane and wanted me to stop, making gestures of all kind. I floored the accelerator and in less than 30 seconds there were nowhere to be found in my rear view mirror. However, within 2 minutes I reached the toll and my heart started pounding heavily. I saw the i10 in the rear view mirror within seconds of reaching there. I quickly paid the toll as there was no other car in front of me and upon reaching Fatehpur parked at the most crowded of the parking area. Thankfully I never saw them again.

Now when I think about that time I still can't understand why they went all crazy and I don't feel very good imagining what would've happened if there was a traffic jam in front of me after a few kms or if I had to wait for a few more seconds at the toll booth. However, I'd rather stop a crowded area if my wife is with me considering that after seeing a female passenger the crowd usually doesn't go all mad, usually.

Things like these happen and there isn't really a user-manual on how to deal with such situations. The only thumb-rule for me is to get away while I can.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by Iluvcars

MX6 & Abhinav, At times there is an even worse risk of trying that. If they manage to call their friends and relatives that can way-lay your vehicle while you run, you can imagine what would follow. In my opinion, in such instances, one is totally at the mercy of the goons - Period. The sad truth is such is life on Indian roads.

I'm not suggesting one to flee the crime scene. I'm suggesting not to stop at the very place in case the other group is all male, look like ruffians, and it's night. Proceed a bit further down the lane and stop to ask neutral people (who don't know anything of the accident) for nearest police station.
Remember, even the other party is in shock as to what happened. And they won't know which car to chase in a hit and run. Get that benefit and file an FIR in the nearest police station.
My friend took his wife on his honeymoon to Kodai. Enroute he hit a goat (poor thing died).
Soon there were irate villagers screaming all around who witnessed it.
He fled the scene along with his new wife. After his honeymoon was over, on the way back, he went in to the village, apologised for what happened and offered to compensate for the goat. He had to pay for his mistake, but then he said, after 5 days, people's anger came down. They didn't even recognise him or his vehicle. He was casually enquiring about so many goats on the road and whether they pose problems to vehicles and what if they get hit etc. When one of the villager said that 5 days back a guy in a santro hit and killed X's goat, he asked for details of X, went to his home and compensated.
Spared him from a couple of blows he'd have got otherwise in front of his new wife.
Never run away from a crime scene. But use prudence as well. No point in facing things brashly and getting beaten up as well.

[anainar]

It has been advised in RTO, Bangalore website also to flee if Mob fury is expected.. They also say you should lodge a police complaint with in 24 hours at the nearest police station..

Check this.. Transport Department And click on General Information->In Case of accident.

Nainar

[Googleman]

Don't hit but run.

The RTO says you should flee if mob fury is expected, but the police says running away is the first and biggest crime Which one to follow.

Mind and heart says, follow RTO Probably the police will eat some money but no physical damage which is IMHO more scary.

[MX6]

Googleman. RTO doesn't say that you have to vanish from the place of crime for ever. It just says, move out, but report it to a police station within 24 hours.
So what police say is still true. Running away is the first and biggest crime. If you can't depose in front of a police station, then depose in front of a magistrate. Even police can't do anything in that case.

[Googleman]

Originally Posted by MX6

Googleman. RTO doesn't say that you have to vanish from the place of crime for ever

Ofcourse even a 12 year old kid would know that you can't vanish forever after hitting a car.

HIT & RUN is classified as - You hit someone, and run away. Reporting to the police, Magistrate, RTO, God.. is after you run away.

[MX6]

Sorry google man. In a country like India it is very easy to run away for ever after hitting some one. Some months back a vehicle crushed a day-wager 3 kms from my place. No one has a clue about it. The day-wager had an instant death and his body was lying there for an hour. He was killed around 6:30 am.
So you hit someone and run, and there are no eye-witnesses, you can run away for ever.
There has been many instances where two wheelers have hit my friend's cars and have zipped through traffic. The pillion rider conveniently covered the rear number plates.
If some one hits a car and runs, there's no way you can catch him in India. All he needs to go and do is file a report in the nearest police station that you hit him and fleed. The case will go on for ages.

When I meant Hit & Run technically means that you flee and are caught. You don't go and depose in front of law willingly. You are ON the run.
So don't hit and run, instead, move from the crime seen and go to the police station instead.

And I'd love to see the 12 year old, who knows that one can't vanish after hitting a car. Because in Mangalore a 16 year old ran over 2 persons and killed them. He didn't have to run after that. The law says he can't be punished as he's a juvenile it seems!
In days where kids are more knowledgeable about loopholes, one needs to appreciate the 12 year who still feels that law will eventually catch up!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by anainar

It has been advised in RTO, Bangalore website also to flee if Mob fury is expected.. They also say you should lodge a police complaint with in 24 hours at the nearest police station..

Check this.. Transport Department And click on General Information->In Case of accident.

Nainar

That is the most logical thing to do. Mob dynamics is really randomized and illogical! They are all aligned only for one thing: destruction.

[hellstar]

I have been witness to numerous instances of road rage at but at night time if you are on a long distance drive the only place i dare even if it is for a pee is near the Toll booth , or places where there is activity like truckers stop.

In this case , had i been in your shoes i would not have gotten out from the car given the fact that you had a lady inside and would have promptly speed off to the nearest police station after noting down the innovas reg number. given the fact that you car was driveable after the accident.

It is also important toe move away from the accident spot as soon as spossible as sooner or later the locals will start getting the upper hand and may force you to do something you might regret later.


Driving in the night is less stressful for me than driving at day due to the reduces desity of traffic but be aware that the density of antisocials increase after night fall and you need to know when , where and what you need to steer clear off.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by hellstar

In this case , had i been in your shoes i would not have gotten out from the car given the fact that you had a lady inside and would have promptly speed off to the nearest police station after noting down the innovas reg number. given the fact that you car was driveable after the accident.

It is also important toe move away from the accident spot as soon as spossible as sooner or later the locals will start getting the upper hand and may force you to do something you might regret later.


Driving in the night is less stressful for me than driving at day due to the reduces desity of traffic but be aware that the density of antisocials increase after night fall and you need to know when , where and what you need to steer clear off.

+1 to all these points. I prefer to drive in the night because of the lesser traffic. Even I had a hairline escape near Salem [at 8 PM] during my last trip to Bangalore from Kerala. I had an Omni in front of me and I was driving at 120 reaching them from behind. This guy was in the middle of the road with no gaps on either side to overtake. While I was nearing to overtake, I flashed my lights and this guy moved to the left. I held high beam while overtaking and after I overtook half, he decided to overtake a rick at the front !! I slammed my brakes and hit 60 from 120 in like 2-3 seconds [I have ABS in my car -- so I dont mind slamming my brakes]. And kept honking. I have loud horns and this made the guy move to left again! I was so furious and I went to that guy, gave an earful and kept driving. The guy wanted to abuse back, but i moved on !

This is exactly what you need to do -- just keep moving on without stopping ! And yes, you take a call whether you want to abuse as well -- I was alone and hence I did that. If I had a lady with me, I would not have bothered to do that as well -- we need to be careful when we have lady passengers with us and the best option is to move on.

I have seen almost everyone asking the person to go to the nearest police station -- How would you find that in the night -- And asking for directions in the night with locals might prove another problem - you never know !

In Kerala, as far as I know, people are using mobile technology to pass info to track vehicles who keep moving on! So there are numerous instances where vehicles are blocked 5-10 kms later and people beaten up for no fault of theirs. And yes, the only fault those people or you and I have is that "We happened to be born in a good family and was brought up with good culture & sympathy and have no Goon background!! "

Some tips to avoid such accidents while overtaking [which I usually do]:

[These points work in the night well]

1. Flash lights couple of times as you approach and honk if necessary
2. Have powerful upgraded lights [100W really help]
3. Have powerful & loud horns
4. If the guy in the front doesn't budge, stay right behind the guy inline with the car in the front and keep the lights in high beam and drive for some distance [Mostly the guys who will not move are the cab wallahs and they will not be able to hold on to this for long] - They will let you pass.
4. Move your car slightly to the right [still being behind the car], keep your right headlight in high beam out so that the light beam falls on the OVRM and reflects to the drivers face.
5. If the guy still doesn't move, start honking -- initially press it in a gap to give a sign to move away, and later keep pressing in - this usually works as these guys keep their windows rolled down !
6. Over take only if you have enough space -- wait till you have enough space so that there is room for correction even if the other guy makes a mistake.
7. keep flashing your lights couple of time while you overtake or honk [I honk in day light while overtaking and flash my lights in the night] to give a signal that you are overtaking.
8. While overtaking, make sure you have high level of concentration on the movements of the car in front of you -- Also try and see whats in front of these guys -- if there is another vehicle in front of them and if its slow moving, they usually try to overtake the vehicle at the same time you are overtaking -- this situation can get very nasty.
9. While overtaking trucks / trailers, wait for their hand signal / indicator signal to overtake -- 90% of the times they give a signal !

I am sure this would have made your cousin learn some lessons -- I am all the more happy that your family is safe [except for some physical abuse he got which is minor to be considered] and they also didn't end up hurting any lives ! Ask them to forget this incident [it will take some time] and enjoy their road trips -- they may want to travel in day light -- as per their preference]. Bu I don't know how different a similar incident in day light is going to be from night ! the chances of people gathering in the day is much more than that in the night!

Disclaimer: Some of you might not like some points mentioned here which is not the best way to drive. I choose to follow these points even going forth, because for me, my passengers' and my safety is the prime concern and not the comfort of the inconsiderate drivers on the road ! except for the situations mentioned above, I drive mostly on low beams [provided the guys coming opposite to me are also on low beam] on a two way road and usually don't resort to any honking in the night unless otherwise forced to.

[airguitar]

Is it a good idea to have a weapon ( a knife or something ) to scare hooligans away so you can leave the place quickly and get to the nearest Police station? I myself do a lot of night trips and sometimes well past midnight and on roads that don't see much traffic after dusk and each time I tell myself I'll prepare myself for any such unforeseen incidents.

It necessarily doesn't have to be a genuine accident : as we all know there are folks who do "deliberate accidents" and make life hell.

[shankar.balan]

The road between Bangalore and Coimbatore through Salem is a beautiful road. The quality of surface tempts one to do very high speeds (in our Indian context) - one can easily hit 120 -140- 160 kmph or more if one chooses to because the roads largely are quite empty and very smooth indeed.
Unfortunately there is no telling who or what (traffic, human being, animal etc) will suddenly appear on the road and cause absolute chaos if one is driving at such speeds.Hence it is extremely chancy and I would recommend following the speed limit however tempting it may be to gun the motor!
I would most definitely NOT recommend carrying any unlicensed weapons in the car (knives and so on that is). One thinks it will be used only in self defence and one can always come up with several justifications for carrying such things, but it is worth bearing in mind that the mere possession of such weaponry can work equally to one's disadvantage as well, both in real terms as well as in a court of law.
I would also emphatically recommend day driving over night driving any day - especially in India.

[shankar.balan]

Yes Colonel, this is an unfortunate, sad fact - this kind of parochial, linguistic chauvinism is now more the rule than the exception and stretches all across our great country.
Its become particularly bad in our Bangalore city - I have seen it become progressively worse over the last 8-9 years hand in hand with the boom and the arrival of more and more immigrants from other places.
These parochial flames are fanned by the lumpen elements who are at the helm of affairs as our political masters. What they fail to realize is that it is largely the immigrant population which has contributed to the financial boom in this city and indeed, these self same immigrants are the ones that are taxed to the highest levels.
However, unfortunately for all of us residents of Bangalore, even the law and order forces cannot do much - especially if they are of the emasculated, un-empowered variety as we have here in our fabled garden city.
Sad, but true.
Bottom-line - all these politicos should be immediately and irrevocably disenfranchised.
Might sound a bit drastic here but perhaps Army Rule would help!
I am also of the firm opinion that a spot of controlled conscription/ 2 years army service applied at the right age on all able bodied Indians without exception, will go a very long way to instilling a sense of National Pride in us and reduce such parochial attitudes.

Originally Posted by Judemayne

My question to all BHPians "Are we aliens in our own country just because we do not speak the local language?"- Col J H Mayne