[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by jalex77

+1 to that, Its a nightmare to be involved in a fender bender in an alien place. As soon as the locals find out you are from somewhere else, they start to treat you like an enemy.

And about the things I said about truckies, I forgot to mention that a whole lot of them have poor vision and are literally blind. And yes all that I said about them applies to other motorists as well, But not on such a large scale.
And then there are some truck drivers like for instance the ones driving Tipper trucks in Kerala. They are mostly teenaged goondas with fake licences. They operate for various mafias and its better to get out of the way when you come across them or see them in the RVMs. They never think twice before ramming into you if they feel you are obstructing them. An RDO's car was dashed into when he was on the road hoping to get hold of the sand mafia gangs near a river side in my hometown. The RDO escaped because he ran off the road, The driver of the truck drove straight towards him and would have killed him. The cops haven't arrested anyone after a year of this happening. They very well know who did it, but still no charges against anyone even.

I don't dispute any of the points you've mentioned. Being a regular on the highways myself, I've seen enough of such activities & people to know it's in my best interest to steer clear of them. They won't hesitate one bit to run you off the road. All it takes is a side-swipe (at highway speeds). The moron will just drive away as if nothing happened, and you'll probably end up dead.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Gansan

BTW I see that the truck is also Bangalore registered. A local crew & owner for a B'lore truck, or did they just have the advantage of fluency in Tamil and pretended to be locals? Viswa's post mentions this happened 250 KM after leaving Bangalore, so was it somewhere between Salem and Madurai?

I have a feeling if he had played the victim rather than showing aggression, the same crowd would have bashed up the truck driver.

Agreed about the 'not being aggressive' part, but fluency in the local language can sometimes literally make the difference between safety and getting lynched by the mob.

I am a Karnataka guy with an MP registered car (parents migrated to Northern lands before I was born), and even though I've not been involved in any serious incidents so far, I've managed to settle quite a few scraps just because I know the local language. There's just something about being local that settles the frenzy of a mob. What exactly? Who knows!

[vishwasvr]

Originally Posted by Gansan

BTW I see that the truck is also Bangalore registered. A local crew & owner for a B'lore truck, or did they just have the advantage of fluency in Tamil and pretended to be locals? Viswa's post mentions this happened 250 KM after leaving Bangalore, so was it somewhere between Salem and Madurai?

I have a feeling if he had played the victim rather than showing aggression, the same crowd would have bashed up the truck driver.

This happened at a place called Nammakkal. The police station was at Nallipalayam.

I am yet to get my license back from them. They were supposed to courier the original FIR copy along with my license last Monday. I am sure it'll take a few more months to get my license back.

[flyingkolors]

Well, IMO, none of those express ways, are safe. A recent round trip from B'lore to Chennai made me all the more skeptical. Roads were solidly built (thanks to NHAI and their toll), but we had atleast 3-4 close instances.

Cruising on the new ANHC, I just couldnt take my eyes off the road. People crossing the highway at their own speed, bullock carts stopped right in middle of the road, trucks coming in the wrong direction, Volvos driving at their own will and what not.

Its more to do with mere common sense rather cursing our roads.

[nandans2005]

Its more to do with mere common sense rather cursing our roads

.
+10

This should have been written in Bold. Well said

We need to keep repeating this line over & over again while driving on these NHs.

[Dr.Abhi]

asking a politician to refrain from scandals,
Asking malika sherawat to come in full clothes, or
Asking a two year child to sit down quitely.
Where driving license are distributed newspaper, where stones are left in the middle of the road by road repair team, where you will find a speed breaker in the middle of twisty highway, where people stand in the middle of road to listen cellphones and you are asking about safety?
On Indian highways we are safe, till you are lucky enough. Any thing above 80kmph in indian roads is suicidal IMO.

[jalex77]

Originally Posted by Dr.Abhi

asking a politician to refrain from scandals,
Asking malika sherawat to come in full clothes, or
Asking a two year child to sit down quitely.
Where driving license are distributed newspaper, where stones are left in the middle of the road by road repair team, where you will find a speed breaker in the middle of twisty highway, where people stand in the middle of road to listen cellphones and you are asking about safety?
On Indian highways we are safe, till you are lucky enough. Any thing above 80kmph in indian roads is suicidal IMO.

Totally agree with you. I dont know why people find it hard to digest the facts, Even when they know all about this. And with the way things are going, I dont think that the speed limits can be raised even slightly in the near future.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by Dr.Abhi

asking a politician to refrain from scandals,
Asking malika sherawat to come in full clothes, or
Asking a two year child to sit down quitely.
Where driving license are distributed newspaper, where stones are left in the middle of the road by road repair team, where you will find a speed breaker in the middle of twisty highway, where people stand in the middle of road to listen cellphones and you are asking about safety?
On Indian highways we are safe, till you are lucky enough. Any thing above 80kmph in indian roads is suicidal IMO.

Well said. I have seen crazy people driving their wheels off the car as though they are in a F1 race.

[blorebuddy]

Sorry for this unfortunate incident.

Originally Posted by vishwasvr

I was on the right lane on the state highway cruising at around 100-110Kmph. There were just two lanes on either side of the road divider.

Not sure how did you go on the right side of the 2 lane state high way and cruising at 100 KMPH? There should have been vehicles coming in the opp. direction? Is it a one way and in the city limits?

Originally Posted by vishwasvr

This, ladies and gentlemen, is India. The land where great leaders and kings were born. This is the land of people who had great respect for themselves and for others. The land where people were honest and sincere. But that was eons ago. It was only in the history books. Honesty lies buried in moral stories. We can't tell from right and wrong. We can't be honest when it matters the most. We can never be honest for once. We are only interested in what benefits us. We don't care if that is going to be unfair to others. Maybe it is unfair to say this happens at a particular town or city. Something similar, but not so serious, has happened to me several years ago in Bangalore. So it just goes to show, India is the same whether you go up North or down South or East or West. This, my dear friends, is India for you.

Well said on the current state of India. I feel very bad about what we talk about as our rich culture in the past and what we are becoming now.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by Dr.Abhi

Any thing above 80kmph in indian roads is suicidal IMO.

More so due to wrong way riders/drivers. There are very less areas where you can safely drive above 80 or 100 Kmph. Spot a truck/cyclist/TATA Ace, be prepared for the unexpected.

[vishwasvr]

Originally Posted by blorebuddy

Sorry for this unfortunate incident.

Not sure how did you go on the right side of the 2 lane state high way and cruising at 100 KMPH? There should have been vehicles coming in the opp. direction? Is it a one way and in the city limits?

Ok, I don't think you understood me clearly. There was a median/road divider and on either side of the median/road divider, there were two lanes each. Kindly scroll back and I have put up a photo of the accident spot.

[Pacifica]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

so....... what say you ......... are our roads safe for 100+ KMPH?

Ramky,

Our roads are mostly safe for 100kmph. Our people are totally unsafe at any speed.

Even if the world's best roads were to be laid in India things will not be safe given our:

• ignorance of road rules and etiquette
• wrong side driving
• gross overloading
• lane indiscipline
• speeding
• close tailgating
• indiscriminate high beam usage
• constant honking
• abysmal parking
• jaywalking
• allowing animals on road
• using roads for other purposes, like threshing paddy, etc.

These are just some of things I can think of. On Team-BHP you will find more.


Unless our people change our roads will continue to be death traps. We already have the highest number of road fatalities in the world, and will continue to be the proud holder of this dubious record for many many years to come.

[YashD]

Originally Posted by Pacifica

Ramky,

Our roads are mostly safe for 100kmph. Our people are totally unsafe at any speed.

Even if the world's best roads were to be laid in India things will not be safe given our:
[*]ignorance of road rules and etiquette[*]wrong side driving[*]gross overloading[*]lane indiscipline[*]speeding[*]close tailgating[*]indiscriminate high beam usage[*]constant honking[*]abysmal parking[*]jaywalking[*]allowing animals on road[*]using roads for other purposes, like threshing paddy, etc.These are just some of things I can think of. On Team-BHP you will find more.

Unless our people change our roads will continue to be death traps. We already have the highest number of road fatalities in the world, and will continue to be the proud holder of this dubious record for many many years to come.

Completely agree, I am hearing so many news about accidents on expressway that too because of animals! I mean what the hell are they doing in the middle of the expressway. Just today in the morning an ild man suddenly came in front of my car! Luckily no one was in the left otherwise bhagwan hi jaane kya hota. Driving on Indian roads is seriously unsafe at any speed! Even if you drive at 40-50kmph a bus driver or a truck would hit your car and escape.

[Gansan]

Indian roads are perfectly unsafe for us at any speed; unless, of course, we are inside a battle tank. Long ago Dilip Bam summarized the rule for selecting the perfect vehicle for our highways: "Bigger, the better; and biggest is best".

[MCR]

Indian roads are the most unsafe! Ask any foreigner and they are amazed that despite of the chaos there are so less accidents! One just needs to be lucky.

Indian highways are unsafe for any speed be it 30kmph or 120kmph. Reasons;
1. Bigger vehicles (SUV, HCV, Bus) simply spill over to the adjacent lanes while on a curve without caring for the vehicles in that lane.
2. Silly drivers start chasing you if you overtake them.
3. Taxi drivers switch lanes at the last minute forcing one to brake hard.
4. Egoistic oldies in their sedans are on the fast lane at 60kmph and are animatedly talking on their mobiles.
5. Home state vehicles get offended and start chasing the out state vehicles.
6. Government registered vehicles and their pilots create a havoc on the roads.
7. Bullock carts, Tata Aces, Piaggio Apes, Tractors, Omnis and Bikes assume that its their birth right to drive on the wrong side of the road.
8. People think the roads are parks and venture out for a walk / Jog.

Unbearable!