WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked bus.

dhanushs · 2nd May 2012, 18:33

Recently in my neighborhood a very sad incident occurred. Two people lost their lives, by carelessly crossing the road, from behind the blind side of a parked bus.

To make myself clear: A bus was parked in its stop, and as always it happens in Kerala, it was not perfectly in the bus stop, but a bit towards the road. Now, two young fellows who got down at the bus stop, needed to get to the other side of the road urgently. So, they chose to cross the road from the blind side of the parked bus, meaning, through the front. A bus (coming along the direction of the parked bus) which was doing good speeds suddenly spotted them only after both reached a point of no return.... and the worst happened. :(

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The HUGE risk of pedestrians crossing the road though the blind side of a parked bus, is that high speed traffic along the direction of the bus (and the pedestrian), have no visibility of each other until the person reaches the other side of the bus, which almost always (in Kerala) will be the middle of the road. And, the worst might happen.

So, dear bhp'ns, whenever you approach a parked bus in a bus stop, PLEASE SLOW DOWN, and watch out for legs from below the bus (which I usually do) to make sure no one will suddenly emerge right in front of your car/vehicle.

Also, while on foot, PLEASE make sure to cross road only after the bus has taken off, or through the back side of the bus, so that both you and traffic have good visibility.

Thank you, Drive Safe.

- Dhanush.

srishiva · 2nd May 2012, 18:40

Crossing from back side doesnt help the vehicles coming in the opposite direction on two way roads. I have had vehicles crossing the road from blind sides. The people who cross needs to be extra cautious.
Feel sad for people who lost their lives.

CARDEEP · 2nd May 2012, 19:01

Thanks for sharing.

It happened with me as well. I was driving to a place near my office & there was an Optra in my front. A Blueline bus has stopped at the bus stand when two young ones (albeit from a rural background & probaly new to a Metro) tried crossing the road from the front. The Optra braked in time, but, I could not, because my attention was diverted by an Omni carrying school kids. This resulted in minor hit at the rear of he Optra, but neither cared as the both knew either one was not at fault.

Sometimes it the fate that creates a web of unfortunate events. But, that day everyone was bit lucky.

condor · 2nd May 2012, 19:24

Guys driving cars: when passing a parked bus, pls try to see below the bus & thru the space between front wheels of the bus. You should be able to see feet of any one coming up on the blind side - and hence if any one is coming from in front of the bus.

This will difficult for SUV drivers.

vikram_d · 2nd May 2012, 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor

Guys driving cars: when passing a parked bus, pls try to see below the bus & thru the space between front wheels of the bus. You should be able to see feet of any one coming up on the blind side - and hence if any one is coming from in front of the bus.

This will difficult for SUV drivers.

I follow this point very carefully while driving as I have had a couple of near misses in this very scenario.

dot · 2nd May 2012, 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor

Guys driving cars: when passing a parked bus, pls try to see below the bus & thru the space between front wheels of the bus. You should be able to see feet of any one coming up on the blind side -

Very good point. This habit can be easily inculcated. I try to do this whenever situation arises. Although it is a bit difficult for Volvo/low floor buses.

And it also makes sense to slow down a bit and honk before crossing the bus. Specially if it is a narrow road and no place to maneuver in case of need.

hrman · 2nd May 2012, 20:35

Same as those above. I always always watch out for feet crossing the road below the buses and on a couple of occassions, have succeeded in braking on time. I did honk the pants off those who tried to cross, just in the hope that they do not repeat this stupidity in teh future.
On another occassion, while driving to Chennai, there was this state bus on my left. I was trying to overtake it from the right, as the road ahead was clear. Just then, a villager on a bike came from the blind side of the front of the bus and was trying to cross the road from the wrong side. I braked in the nick of time and avoided hitting him. Had two minds to get off and give that guy an earful, but stopped as he was senior in age, and I had my dad with me. The bus driver though did give him an earful, which was music to my ears..

bejoy · 2nd May 2012, 20:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor

Guys driving cars: when passing a parked bus, pls try to see below the bus & thru the space between front wheels of the bus. You should be able to see feet of any one coming up on the blind side - and hence if any one is coming from in front of the bus.

This will difficult for SUV drivers.

I follow this religiously. A norm inculcated in me by my dad during my initial days of driving. Also, I make a point to honk whenever I pass a bus or any parked vehicle on a lane, expecting that there is a person trying to cross from behind. Driving safely in India requires the driver to keep constant vigil of happening surrounding and expecting for the worse. And honking is a must on highways, though I am a 'no-honk-inside-city' advocate.

In Kerala, you encounter towns every 5-10 kms or so. Pedestrians in the towns are generally traffic aware and look for traffic while crossing roads. Situation changes once you are out of town limits where you encounter people who are not used to traffic. They are generally slow to respond to emergency situations or get confused, especially older people.

optimist · 2nd May 2012, 20:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor

Guys driving cars: when passing a parked bus, pls try to see below the bus & thru the space between front wheels of the bus. You should be able to see feet of any one coming up on the blind side - and hence if any one is coming from in front of the bus.

This will difficult for SUV drivers.

Been keenly watching for feet in the gaps for ages. Keep in mind these bits.

1. It also helps to honk without fail and flash at night on the assumption that someone WILL come.

2. More importantly SLOW DOWN with the fact that not one pedestrian or motorist will care what is in the fast lane while being fixated with an intent to reach the opposite side in the next second or while irresponsibly talking on a mobile.

3. Keep in mind that they do not understand that motor vehicles also require a minimum distance to stop or just don't care and shrug off the responsibility of being a good pedestrian.

4. Despite being correct in traveling past, the general public will always hold the vehicle moving past is at fault.

Edit: just saw that bhpian's are real fast with the keyboards also

sorry about some repetition.

StarrySky · 2nd May 2012, 20:58

A similar incident occurred with us a long time back. My father was driving and I was in the front seat. There was a bus going in the opposite direction, which was parked and passengers were getting down. Out of the blue, a young boy, 6 or 7 years old, ran towards our car. He hit our car somewhere between the right front wheel and the door, fell down, got back up and ran back. There was a loud sound and the boy's mother, who had just got down the bus, panicked and fell down unconscious. She recovered after some time. Luckily, no harm done to anyone.

This happened even before I learned driving, so watching out for pedestrians coming from behind the bus was a lesson I learned long back.

DRIVE_ADDICT · 2nd May 2012, 21:48

When i saw this thread heading, i was thinking of sharing my experience here, but i think every one had experienced it. Simple evident that most of the pedestrians doesn't have this basic road sense. So its we the motorist needs to be cautious what else we can do.

Another annoying thing which i came accross on highways is that, People crossing (running) from left side to right side of the two lane road, considering only the slow moving left most laned vehicle thinking that they can cross before the vehicle approaches them and totally ignoring the high speed right lane vehicles. Happened to me once at highway at deserted region (i normally slow down while crossing even tiny villages). but thankfully nothing went wrong except my heart came out and beat and I rested for 5 mins to came out the shock. From then on i frequently honk before overtaking vehicle, which will be annoying yet i dont find any other safer ways.

mempheS.D · 3rd May 2012, 07:01

Holy moly! And this had to happen some day. With due respect and condolences to the lost lives. This incident has happened to me twice in the past- one was a Vajra Volvo en route to the airport, and the other was a truck near Silk board.

The airport road incident was a near miss when I spotted the head of the idiot crossing in front of the volvo through the volvo's windscreen. Call me heroic. Or call it a god send sense.. I was on the extreme right but couldnt' swerve to the right anymore.. Thankfully there was no one behind to so the immediate decision was to slam the ABS. Showed him the birdie and moved on.

The second was something similar near Silk Board. This time it was a Sumo. I can't blame him. The pedestrian fool realized I'm coming after her crossed past the Sumo. Thankfully he had the presence of mind to stop in the middle of a 3 lane highway allowing me way to pass. But, send me shivers all the way from my spine till my knees.

Ever since I've been honking profusely when I overtake a BIG vehicle not knowing which fool it's going to be this time. Fellow-passengers stare at me.. Other road-users stare at me. But, HECK ! Why should I be made to pay for somebody else's foolishnes? Because in our country, it's the driver/rider who get kicked first if a pedestrian gets hurt.

benbsb29 · 3rd May 2012, 07:12

I make it a point to slow down whenever i spot a stopped bus with the gut feeling that someone/something is surely going to jump out from there. That it has proved to be right quite often tells a lot about the lack of sense in most pedestrians when crossing a road.

ghodlur · 3rd May 2012, 07:36

The issue lies with the alighting from bus too since its from the front and the passengers by default wanting to cross the bus/road inadverently try to do it from the front. Instead they should be trying to go behind the bus and see for any oncoming vehicle and then attempt to cross or wait for the bus to leave and then try to cross.

Many a times I have seen people rushing to cross the road in order to catch the stopped bus. They somehow avoid being hit by oncoming vehicles to make it in front of the bus but what catches them by surprise is the sudden movment of the bus. This is even more dangeroous as they might come straightaway under the bus.

libranof1987 · 3rd May 2012, 08:52

This is a very grave issue all over.

Volvo buses in B'lore have the habit of stopping right in the middle of the road just because the driver doesn't want to take the trouble of pulling over at the bus stop. The drivers actually expect people to alight or even board the bus right when it is in the centre of the road and many a times, still in motion at a few km/hr.

Things have quite the potential to turn ugly if the passengers aren't careful.

2nd May 2012, 18:33	#1
dhanushs Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 4,282 Thanked: 10,180 Times	WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked bus. Recently in my neighborhood a very sad incident occurred. Two people lost their lives, by carelessly crossing the road, from behind the blind side of a parked bus. To make myself clear: A bus was parked in its stop, and as always it happens in Kerala, it was not perfectly in the bus stop, but a bit towards the road. Now, two young fellows who got down at the bus stop, needed to get to the other side of the road urgently. So, they chose to cross the road from the blind side of the parked bus, meaning, through the front. A bus (coming along the direction of the parked bus) which was doing good speeds suddenly spotted them only after both reached a point of no return.... and the worst happened. :( ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The HUGE risk of pedestrians crossing the road though the blind side of a parked bus, is that high speed traffic along the direction of the bus (and the pedestrian), have no visibility of each other until the person reaches the other side of the bus, which almost always (in Kerala) will be the middle of the road. And, the worst might happen. So, dear bhp'ns, whenever you approach a parked bus in a bus stop, PLEASE SLOW DOWN, and watch out for legs from below the bus (which I usually do) to make sure no one will suddenly emerge right in front of your car/vehicle. Also, while on foot, PLEASE make sure to cross road only after the bus has taken off, or through the back side of the bus, so that both you and traffic have good visibility. Thank you, Drive Safe. - Dhanush.
	(11) Thanks

2nd May 2012, 18:40	#2
srishiva Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 4,375 Thanked: 2,256 Times	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b Crossing from back side doesnt help the vehicles coming in the opposite direction on two way roads. I have had vehicles crossing the road from blind sides. The people who cross needs to be extra cautious. Feel sad for people who lost their lives.
	() Thanks

2nd May 2012, 19:01	#3
CARDEEP Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: NCR Posts: 3,248 Thanked: 2,522 Times	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b Thanks for sharing. It happened with me as well. I was driving to a place near my office & there was an Optra in my front. A Blueline bus has stopped at the bus stand when two young ones (albeit from a rural background & probaly new to a Metro) tried crossing the road from the front. The Optra braked in time, but, I could not, because my attention was diverted by an Omni carrying school kids. This resulted in minor hit at the rear of he Optra, but neither cared as the both knew either one was not at fault. Sometimes it the fate that creates a web of unfortunate events. But, that day everyone was bit lucky.
	() Thanks

2nd May 2012, 19:24	#4
condor Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Speed-brkr City Posts: 15,864 Thanked: 16,014 Times View My Garage	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b Guys driving cars: when passing a parked bus, pls try to see below the bus & thru the space between front wheels of the bus. You should be able to see feet of any one coming up on the blind side - and hence if any one is coming from in front of the bus. This will difficult for SUV drivers.
	(4) Thanks

2nd May 2012, 20:35	#7
hrman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,128 Thanked: 1,015 Times	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b Same as those above. I always always watch out for feet crossing the road below the buses and on a couple of occassions, have succeeded in braking on time. I did honk the pants off those who tried to cross, just in the hope that they do not repeat this stupidity in teh future. On another occassion, while driving to Chennai, there was this state bus on my left. I was trying to overtake it from the right, as the road ahead was clear. Just then, a villager on a bike came from the blind side of the front of the bus and was trying to cross the road from the wrong side. I braked in the nick of time and avoided hitting him. Had two minds to get off and give that guy an earful, but stopped as he was senior in age, and I had my dad with me. The bus driver though did give him an earful, which was music to my ears..
	() Thanks

2nd May 2012, 20:58	#10
StarrySky Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: EU - Nordic Posts: 2,052 Thanked: 3,043 Times	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b A similar incident occurred with us a long time back. My father was driving and I was in the front seat. There was a bus going in the opposite direction, which was parked and passengers were getting down. Out of the blue, a young boy, 6 or 7 years old, ran towards our car. He hit our car somewhere between the right front wheel and the door, fell down, got back up and ran back. There was a loud sound and the boy's mother, who had just got down the bus, panicked and fell down unconscious. She recovered after some time. Luckily, no harm done to anyone. This happened even before I learned driving, so watching out for pedestrians coming from behind the bus was a lesson I learned long back.
	() Thanks

2nd May 2012, 21:48	#11
DRIVE_ADDICT BHPian Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Bangalore Posts: 492 Thanked: 392 Times View My Garage	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b When i saw this thread heading, i was thinking of sharing my experience here, but i think every one had experienced it. Simple evident that most of the pedestrians doesn't have this basic road sense. So its we the motorist needs to be cautious what else we can do. Another annoying thing which i came accross on highways is that, People crossing (running) from left side to right side of the two lane road, considering only the slow moving left most laned vehicle thinking that they can cross before the vehicle approaches them and totally ignoring the high speed right lane vehicles. Happened to me once at highway at deserted region (i normally slow down while crossing even tiny villages). but thankfully nothing went wrong except my heart came out and beat and I rested for 5 mins to came out the shock. From then on i frequently honk before overtaking vehicle, which will be annoying yet i dont find any other safer ways.
	() Thanks

3rd May 2012, 07:01	#12
mempheS.D BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 536 Thanked: 219 Times	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b Holy moly! And this had to happen some day. With due respect and condolences to the lost lives. This incident has happened to me twice in the past- one was a Vajra Volvo en route to the airport, and the other was a truck near Silk board. The airport road incident was a near miss when I spotted the head of the idiot crossing in front of the volvo through the volvo's windscreen. Call me heroic. Or call it a god send sense.. I was on the extreme right but couldnt' swerve to the right anymore.. Thankfully there was no one behind to so the immediate decision was to slam the ABS. Showed him the birdie and moved on. The second was something similar near Silk Board. This time it was a Sumo. I can't blame him. The pedestrian fool realized I'm coming after her crossed past the Sumo. Thankfully he had the presence of mind to stop in the middle of a 3 lane highway allowing me way to pass. But, send me shivers all the way from my spine till my knees. Ever since I've been honking profusely when I overtake a BIG vehicle not knowing which fool it's going to be this time. Fellow-passengers stare at me.. Other road-users stare at me. But, HECK ! Why should I be made to pay for somebody else's foolishnes? Because in our country, it's the driver/rider who get kicked first if a pedestrian gets hurt.
	() Thanks

3rd May 2012, 07:12	#13
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,968 Thanked: 13,222 Times View My Garage	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b I make it a point to slow down whenever i spot a stopped bus with the gut feeling that someone/something is surely going to jump out from there. That it has proved to be right quite often tells a lot about the lack of sense in most pedestrians when crossing a road.
	() Thanks

3rd May 2012, 07:36	#14
ghodlur Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Thane Posts: 6,010 Thanked: 4,199 Times View My Garage	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b The issue lies with the alighting from bus too since its from the front and the passengers by default wanting to cross the bus/road inadverently try to do it from the front. Instead they should be trying to go behind the bus and see for any oncoming vehicle and then attempt to cross or wait for the bus to leave and then try to cross. Many a times I have seen people rushing to cross the road in order to catch the stopped bus. They somehow avoid being hit by oncoming vehicles to make it in front of the bus but what catches them by surprise is the sudden movment of the bus. This is even more dangeroous as they might come straightaway under the bus.
	() Thanks

3rd May 2012, 08:52	#15
libranof1987 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: All over! Posts: 7,615 Thanked: 18,342 Times	Re: WATCH OUT!!.. For pedestrians crossing the road from the blind side of a parked b This is a very grave issue all over. Volvo buses in B'lore have the habit of stopping right in the middle of the road just because the driver doesn't want to take the trouble of pulling over at the bus stop. The drivers actually expect people to alight or even board the bus right when it is in the centre of the road and many a times, still in motion at a few km/hr. Things have quite the potential to turn ugly if the passengers aren't careful.
	() Thanks