[flyingkolors]

Dear all,

Just wanted to share my (bad) experience on the beloved forum so that others do not repeat and will be careful next time onwards.

3 weeks back I was going to office at around 9.30AM and since it was a heavy traffic time, decided to take my bike. There was this narrow two lane and the entire road on my side was blocked and the traffic was moving at snails pace. The other side was open and clear all the way (there was no median or anything, just plain 2 lane road).

Since I was on bike I was overtaking all the heavier vehicles from right and was zooming, slightly on the right, on the open stretch. Was overtaking a Volvo bus (which was moving v slowly) from right. And all of a sudden a couple bikers jumped in front of me from the left (from a service road). I couldnt see them because bus was on my left and they jumped from the front of the bus from left.

I braked hard to avoid hitting them. The bike skid, I fell down on my left hand. Fortunately didnt go under the bus. Left wrist badly injured. One bone was dislocated and another was crushed.

I immediately got up and moved off the road to avoid jam and people gathering. Someone helped to bring my bike too off the road. Everything was cleared in 5min. But my left wrist was completely swollen and paining like hell. Couldnt bend my fingers either. Had some deep scratches on my right elbow too. Tried to start my bike and go back home. But since the fingers were jammed couldnt press the clutch to slot it into gear. After 20min or so, requested some pedestrian to drop me home, which he kindly did. Couldnt call anyone either since my phone display was broken because of the impact.

Got operated and they put plates and screws in the left wrist. had to be hospitalized for 3 days. After 3 weeks, left fingers are slowly moving now and the wounds are all healing.

Request you all to be careful while overtaking a heavier vehicle and when there are people jumping into your lane from behind the heavier vehicle. We know these spots, but tend to forget/ignore while actually driving. Completely slowdown at these blind spots, please and drive safe.

[esteem_lover]

Sad to hear this one. It is always better to anticipate any silly thing on our roads. Also 'zooming' is not the right thing to do when you are on the opp lane and overtaking vehicles on your own lane. Hope your hand heals fast.

[KarthikK]

Sad to hear of this scary incident. It must have left you shaken no doubt. Hope you recover quickly. Where in Bangalore was this, by the way?

What you just described is a common problem in dense traffic. When overtaking a bigger vehicle, it is better to slow down when approaching the end of that vehicle's length. With many 2 wheeler riders I have found that they switch lanes like nobody's business, all in an effort to go ahead a couple of metres more than the rest of the traffic.

Some bikers in a jam, tend to go next to the road divider and accelerate in that narrow gap between cars and divider to head towards the front of the queue. Suddenly, some other biker who had an 'awakening' of sorts, also decides to enter this gap from behind a bus/truck. The other biker will end up in a soup with this obstacle biker.

[gpa]

Sorry to hear about your experience and I am sure you are lucky to escape with your life as the Volvo buses are notorious for being rash.

I have faced a similar situation many times at a bus-stop that's located en-route to my house. In my case pedestrians jump into the middle-lane of the road to try and cross it. I once almost had an accident with an auto rickshaw who popped out from front of the bus to try and take a U-turn!

Since that incident many years ago I am always wary and slow down to almost a crawl when I pass by buses parked on the side of road or buses at a bus-stop. Defensive driving is the only way to keep yourself and your machinery free of nicks.

[Night_Hawk]

Originally Posted by flyingkolors

Dear all,

Just wanted to share my (bad) experience on the beloved forum so that others do not repeat and will be careful next time onwards.

Thanks for sharing the experience.

Probably that was your lucky day that you escaped form being hurt by the Bus.Actaully, the risks most of us take to save just few minutes are not worthy. Life is Precious.

Your experience is a lesson teaching how life threatening risky maneuvers can be.Get well and drive safe!

Cheers
NH

[Chalu]

Hope you get well soon. Some bikers are morons and they think they are the king of the road and dont understand the speed differentials between 2 & 4 wheeler. I see this everyday on the Outer ring road on my way to office.

[aqualeo2040]

Flyingkolors, take care!
Am sure you would still be in a lot of pain.
More than the pain, its the trauma of the crash which will worry you when you get back on your ride again.


Yes. Almost all of us have faced this scenario. Some are lucky while others are not. I have come across pedestrians who freeze in the middle of the road on at least 2 occassions. The first time, I managed to stop the Yamaha with a show-off stoppie. The second time, Thunderbirds dont like to do a stoppie. I stopped, a bit too late. The lady jumped. A auto crashed into me. General mess. All this while I was still on two wheels and standing!
Ever since, I wisened up and slow down when I cannot see the road beyond(obstacle). Keeping it simple helped in my case.

Get well soon

Btw, where in Bangy did this happen?

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by flyingkolors

...
There was this narrow two lane and the entire road on my side was blocked and the traffic was moving at snails pace. The other side was open and clear all the way (there was no median or anything, just plain 2 lane road).

Since I was on bike I was overtaking all the heavier vehicles from right and was zooming, slightly on the right, on the open stretch. Was overtaking a Volvo bus (which was moving v slowly) from right. And all of a sudden a couple bikers jumped in front of me from the left (from a service road). I couldnt see them because bus was on my left and they jumped from the front of the bus from left.
...

I see such scenarios played out before me almost every day while waiting for my company bus. A biker today skidded and almost fell. This is not only an issue with overtaking bigger vehicles but even smaller vehicles or even other bikes. When the vehicles in your lane has slowed down or is slowing down or has completely stopped, one has no right to drive much faster by moving to the extreme right or left. Depending on which side you are, your left or right side vision is almost completely blocked. The vehicles could have slowed down for any number of reasons. These could range from:

• Motorists coming from a left side road (T junction) to merge into the road to go in a direction that is opposite to you.
• Some animal crossing the road
• There could have been an accident
• There could be people trying to cross the road etc.

I have already witnessed a few bad accidents during the past couple of years since people simply do not slow down to understand why the others have stopped. When others have stopped it is time to be cautious and if at all, drive a little faster than the vehicles that you are overtaking and not to continue at full speed. If not, such accidents will happen. In many instances you cannot even blame the motorists or pedestrians who are trying to cross the road over since these incidents usually happen at places where there are no traffic signals for motorists or pedestrians.

[noopster]

Hope you make a speedy recovery, flyingkolors. There is an old driving saying that you should complete an overtaking manouver before you even start it. The situation you have described is typically when the overtaken vehicle does not slow down to allow you to pass, in which case it is more sensible to back off rather than complete the overtake.

Am not saying what you did was wrong, but sometimes it makes sense to prioritise caution.

[ghodlur]

+1 to Noopster.
Experienced the same this morning on my way to office when I was at the right most lane and a ST bus suddenly moved in from the middle to the lane I was driving. My attempt at showing dipper and honking did not have any effect as the ST guy was trying to overtake a slow moving truck. I had to slow down and brake and allow the ST to move ahead. Felt no need of arguing with the ST guy as they normally dont understand the traffic rules.

[babu.sundaram]

Sad to hear flyingkolors. Speedy recovery! Sure it would be a lot physical and mental pain and you would come back stronger. Be sure to take on wheels as soon as you can (the longer you are away, the more the inertia / fear / reluctance to overcome..).

I have seen this tricky thing happening with Volvos many times, these powerful things can match bikes speed (and pick up) at times; with rear engine, the sound also isn't as alarming as with ALs/TMs.

[srishiva]

I can pray for you to get well soon. Whenever there is a jam, people in two wheelers do peep on to the left or right and start moving. They don't like standing in the middle of the jam.

Its happened to all of us but we were luckier than you. In cars, we always anticipate bikers, autos etc to move left and right and are prepared for that (the cost factor !). A gentle honk to mark your presence is always good on our roads.

[subscrive]

Note from the Team-BHP Support Staff : Post deleted. Personal attacks on fellow BHPians are STRICTLY prohibited on Team-BHP. All members are part of the Team-BHP family and any discriminating or derogatory comment is uncalled for.

[revintup]

That was very unfortunate and I pray you get well soon. Thank God you came of with some fractures because worse could have happened.

Originally Posted by flyingkolors

Tried to start my bike and go back home. But since the fingers were jammed couldnt press the clutch to slot it into gear. After 20min or so, requested some pedestrian to drop me home, which he kindly did.

Would like to give some pointers to fellow bhpians.

Never ride a two wheeler immediately after an accident even if its a minor one. The mental trauma will not let one concentrate on the road and reflexes will be severely impaired which may lead to another unfortunate incident. Take a break for half an hour, drink something, call somebody, give the vehicle a thorough check up. Just while away 30 mins, am sure it doesnt cost as much as your life.

Even riding pillion is not advisable because there is every chance of the victim losing conciousness. By the time you realise you would have fallen onto the road. Your speech is amongst the first to get affected so you wouldnt even be able to ask the rider to stop the bike.

In these circumstances its best to lock the bike, entrust a shopkeeper with the safekeeping, hire an auto or taxi and arrange for someone to pick up the bike later. ( I am presuming you proceeded to the hospital on your own bike).

[mayankjha1806]

Get well soon, one word that keeps one safe is patience.

Weather on highway or city traffic, patience is the key. Take your time and there will be ample opportunities, especially in the city where the traffic is moving a snail pace anyway.

When i first read the title, i thought the discussion would focus around highway overtaking of a bigger vehicle. On highway the problem amplifies itself as the speeds you do are decently high. One of the things that has helped me is observe highway behavior of fellow travelers and adapt. For example on HYD-BLR highway i saw large vehicle drivers know that you are coming (as they keep watching their rear view mirrors) and keep to their lane, on the other hand HYD-NGP-RPR highway i had to consistently honk to let them know of my arrival for them to give way.