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Originally Posted by azeemhafiz Hello Vishwas,
First of all, glad that no one was hurt seriously and glad that you are all OK to report this incident here at Team BHP.
Although brawl is best avoided, I think you have handled yourself pretty well. Please dont think that I'm justifying you landing punches on the Lorry drivers face, But I'm glad maturity stepped in and you stopped. You were scared that something worse could have happened and you wanted to teach him a lesson. But as suggested by everyone else, you should've avoided it.
It is easy for most of us to sit behind the comforts of a laptop / desktop and recommend 'what you should have done' but facing it first hand with your loved one's (your car included) is totally different. Its hard to say how one reacts to such a situation but I must admit that you have done pretty well. |
Thanks a lot azeemhafiz. I just thought of sharing this unfortunate incident on TeamBHP because I had been very inactive.
This is a first for me. I have never been involved in an accident. And neither have I beaten someone up. I had my reasons to raise my hand but even then I cannot justify my actions.
Thanks a ton for your support. Really means a lot to me.
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Originally Posted by prince_pervez Baap re! Thank God you and your Family members are safe Vishwas. Its easy for me to say from here that a brawl can be avoided, although, sometimes even a rash overtaking manuver gets to me. Whether India or abroad, truckers do have a bigger and bader blind spot than anyone else. Overtaking these rigs should be done carefully let alone being close to them. Time is the best healer. Go on a vacation, seriously. |
Thanks Prince_Pervez.
I think tomorrow's party should erase a very bad ending!
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Originally Posted by binaiks You are supposed to stick to the left lane. Right lane is strictly for overtaking, and one is supposed to switch back to the left lane once done with overtaking. This is irrespective of your speed - and remember the Maximum permissible speed on Indian Highways is only 80 kmph.
The sign boards are to remind slower vehicles that they are required to compulsorily stick to the left lane - but that does not mean the faster vehicles are free to drive on the overtaking lane.
He did the right thing here. Your duty does not stop at honking - you are supposed to reduce your speed as well. Having been involved in a similar incident myself, I emphasise on this point - the driver's duty does not end at just honking, but also be prepared to stop. I know that one does not get so many reflexes in such situations, but one should be prepared for this. This is why one should be always doubly cautious while trying to overtake a huge vehicle - they have huge blind spots. |
Lol so you think I didn't slam my brakes at all? Did you see the skid marks in the photo I uploaded?
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Originally Posted by nandans2005 Vishwas,
I presume that the picture posted is the accident spot.
I also presume the braking marks on the road is of your car.
If yes, then i see that you have braked quite a distance. At the end , i see that you have turned to the right? why right? Turning right would have been more towards the truck which was turning right.
I think the car should have been turned to the left to avoid colliding with the truck.
Seeing the distance you have braked seems that speed could have been a bit more. I mean that you could have seen the speed on the meter, when the speed was reducing during braking.
I am just trying to analyse the accident. However, i feel all these analysis can be done after the accident so that we use our presence of mind during such crisis. I know how difficult it is to react properly in a situation to avert an accident.
Just see the picture and analyse for yourself. Let me know if what i have thought is right or wrong. |
Yes they are all mine. I took them minutes after I sent my mum, aunt and my cousin to the hospital.
I took my hands off the steering wheel a fraction of a second before the impact. Had I tried to hold the steering wheel and swerve to the left, I would have probably broken both my arms and shoulders due to the impact. Always take your hands off the wheel if you want to save your hands. I remember watching this crash test documentary on Discovery Channel long ago. Of course, I did it out of sheer instinct. Not that I had the time to recall the documentary and then react! Lol Plus if there was enough time/distance to steer the car to the left, I would have easily managed to avoid a scratch let alone a collision. And also not that I intentionally steered to the right. The truck swerved from the left to the right. The truck is nearly twice as wide as the car.
I can't say if you are right or wrong. I can only say it is incorrect to say I should have steered to the left. There is no chance I would have avoided a collision. For all you know, the car may have spun out of control and rammed into the truck sideways.
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Originally Posted by jalex77 First of all I apologize for being harsh with you which I know I've been. I should have been a little less 'by the book' when you were feeling down with your car damaged like that. Its my line of work that makes me to react like that. Sorry again. And I was really disturbed by the fact that you went ahead and assaulted the Truckie, compromising on your own and your family's safety. From your post I made out that you never took that risk factor into account ever.
I've seen a lot of incidents of road rage going around over the years and things are escalating alarmingly.Years back I've been on the receiving end as well when the driver of an interstate KSRTC bus got pissed with the traffic jam on the Bangalore Mysore highway and decided to move ahead by bumping my puny old 800 onto the foot path. He broke my rear bumper along with the tail lights and there was some damage to the front bumper as well. I chased and caught up with him when the traffic opened and once I was level with him on his right, my friend in the passenger seat shouted at him to stop else we are going to call the police. You know what he did?, He gave him a smile and shoved us off the road on to the right denting our car on the left side as well. That was my lesson and I've never ever confronted any guy on the road again, Its way too dangerous is what I've learnt. Even the cops at the next junction did not bother to help us back then since we were not locals or from that state.
And I have read your post clearly, I once again went through it to make sure I did not miss something.
And Vishwas, I appreciate the fact that you are a responsible person and really have more respect for you after learning that you are someone who actually does something for the society at large.
But still you should know that you do have a contributory factor in your incident with the speed you were clocking and not taking into account that its a median and that the truckie might turn without indication. Haven't you noticed before that truckies and other commercial drivers behave like that without any warning?
Another thing is you might not have overtaken the truck at the time of the impact but if he did not make that turn, You would have overtook him in like 3 seconds at that speed and proximity as he was on the left and you were on the right. So you must have known that you were about to overtake him. And he might have not seen you at all and you had said the highway was deserted for 100 metres on either side. The truckie might have been reluctant to admit his fault as otherwise he would be held accountable for the incident and God knows if he has any insurance at all. If he has no insurance then the damages you had incurred will come out of his or the lorry owner's pocket if you go for a claim petition at court. So anyone in his situation will point the finger at you. And these kind of people know very well on how to fend for themselves when involved in such a situation.
One more thing, when the book says that the maximum speed is 80 Kmph-110 Kmph is 100 percent illegal. Just see what your counsel is going to say in court if at all you go for your claim petition. He will delete the 110Kmph speed in the story else you might be going home empty handed at verdict. Try to see where you erred, even if it is small. You might not get a second chance or next time to correct things. "It seems like I have to give up being honest and probably have to blatantly lie and blame someone else completely." On that statement, I have nothing to say, Its your decision to make.
Once again sorry for making you miserable, Wont bother you ever again. |
That’s alright. I have faced harsher situations and words in the past and frankly, you haven’t managed to even increase my blood pressure. So I am fine with your opinion. Like I mentioned before, this is a first for me. Both the accident and raising my hand at someone. At that point in time, I lost it.
I’d like to share this link I found on the internet the other day about road rage.
Road rage in India growing along with economy
I am sorry that happened to your car.
Maybe I should not have crossed the speed limits. I admit to it.
Like I’ve said before, maybe my speed should have been lower. But my point was, even if I was at 80kmph, I had very little time to react. Maybe I would have only ended up with a small or minor dent to my vehicle, assuming the truck driver slammed his brakes like he did. Maybe the impact would have been lesser.
You haven’t bothered me at all. I handled the criticism because I admitted to my mistake and I was honest about it.