[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Warwithwheels

Some technology similar to cockpit voice recorder/ black box found in aircrafts must be made mandatory in cars too. This will ensure that all key parameters are recoded in real time. Moreover the voice recorder will help insurance companies/ investigating agencies verify the authenticity of the claims easily. Given the advancement in technology, am confident that the cost of incorporating the technology in cars at the production stage is definitely not prohibitive if produced in large scale.

You are talking about something like a black box to be made mandatory ! Right now we have basic safety needs like ABS , EBD and airbags sold only on high end variants of a model. The Transport body is only intersted in making useless suggestions like banning night travel or speed governors.

[kau_therock]

I always get scared driving on this bridge, which I do often, like once in 15 days or so. The curve is really dangerous and if you are speeding, you certainly will go straight into the river.

Somewhere I read that the car was doing 100 miles per hour, or the police say so. If it was really going that fast, it was asking for trouble. May their souls rest in peace.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by kau_therock

The curve is really dangerous and if you are speeding, you certainly will go straight into the river.

Are there any proper markings on the road which warns about the curve ?

Originally Posted by kau_therock

Somewhere I read that the car was doing 100 miles per hour, or the police say so. If it was really going that fast, it was asking for trouble. May their souls rest in peace.

Yes, it was mentioned as 100 Miles on NDTV website, but when I watched their news on TV in the night the reporter was quoting 100 KMPH.

I guess they are arriving at this figure based on time they left toll booth and the time their mobiles were switched off / not reachable. That at best can give a rough estimate of average speed and in no way the speed when the car went off the road.

Though I have never traveled on that route and hence cant comment on that road, I guess most forum members would agree that driving above 100/ 120 KMPH is not safe on any Indian highways.

My question is even if we assume the driver was not familiar with the road and car was travelling above 100 KMPH, there should be multiple sign boards warning about the curve. If they are missing should NHAI / toll operator also in part accountable for the incident.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Are there any proper markings on the road which warns about the curve ?

No, there are no such warning signs about the curve. Like mentioned in my earlier post, the nature of the curve is not dangerous at all as its a long right hander. It is the way the Bridge suddenly starts soon after this curve ends plus the fact that the approach the bridge is inclined all the way from the point where the curve starts which makes it a "fast" approach to this bridge rather than a sedate one.

Its almost like this: Just where the curvature ends, a straight bridge is right there for the next 300 meters. There is a wide gap between the 2 bridges meant for traffic in each direction. Combination of Speed+Lack of know how about the nature of this section+possible understeer (and subsequent actions to correct that along with panic braking) can actually make you go off the lane and straight in between the gap too!

This is the very section where many have mentioned how folks slow down abruptly seeing lots of uneven sections on the bridge itself.

My question is even if we assume the driver was not familiar with the road and car was travelling above 100 KMPH, there should be multiple sign boards warning about the curve. If they are missing should NHAI / toll operator also in part accountable for the incident.

I don't know but I still think the absence of a signboard is not something that we need to bother on this particular stretch. It is definitely not that deadly and has not witnessed regular accidents as well. In short, this is not an accident zone.

[amit]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

As usual, police say the car was speeding even before confirming any form of evidence pointing to that. How come no one ever considers that this may not have been a speeding car, but road circumstances like being blinded by high beams or even improper signage which led to this?!

It's because our authorities & the government have a my baap attitude here so either it's a freak accident or driver error or over speeding & rash driving. The reality however is most of the accidents are due to pathetic roads, almost no sign ages, lack of lighting and so on. Even now the authorities can study the road and the bridge design in depth and make changes to avoid such accidents in the future but they would rather blame it on over speeding or driver error. India is the only country in the world where if there are repetitive accidents on some sections the government calls the entire stretch or the entire road 'accident prone highway' but still refuses to make changes to avoid accidents!

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by kau_therock

Somewhere I read that the car was doing 100 miles per hour, or the police say so. If it was really going that fast, it was asking for trouble. May their souls rest in peace.

a. Their average speed was 80 (20km fromtollplaza in 15 mins till their phones went off).
b. When no one saw the car go down, who is fantasizing that it was doing 100 MILES an hour? This seems to be idle theorizing and such irresponsible folks should not be entertained by media.

[sajo]

What about the role of this misplaced "Diversion" board :



The encircled spot is where the car went down.

It is extremely tragic. Pranav Lele was a year junior to me in my school, and we have (had :( ) a lot of common friends. May God give their families the strength to deal with this catastrophic loss.

Question :
- Will a door equipped with central locking jam after coming in contact with water, turning the car into a watery grave ? Not just this case, but also in case an attempted water wading goes wrong.
- Did the two railings of the the bridges create an illusion of the space between the two bridges being the bridge itself ? Couple this with the diversion sign and the darkness.




Source of the images : TOI Epaper

[BBR_SHR]

Originally Posted by sajo

- Did the two railings of the the bridges create an illusion of the space between the two bridges being the bridge itself ? Couple this with the diversion sign and the darkness.

This could explain a lot. Lack of visible damage to the barriers suggests that the car went straight in!!

[kau_therock]

The road construction work has been going on for ages, nearly for 2 years or maybe even more than that. So i doubt this was the first time they were travelling from this road, considering they lived in pune. It definitely has to be something else.

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by sajo

What about the role of this misplaced "Diversion" board

Bang on! You've nailed it!

The cars seems to be the top of the line, Asta Variant which comes equipped with airbags. The fact that no airbags were deployed (please correct me if am wrong) also makes a strong case for your reasoning.

I guess the driver mistook the gap which is wide enough as a road. The wrong diversion signage could have also contributed to the confusion.

The authorities who are responsible for maintaining this road must be sued(I don't really know if such a word exists in India tho').

It really pains to see people getting judgmental without knowing the facts and concluding that it could be a case of over speeding or alcohol.

[paragsachania]

The 6 laning of Pune-Satara stretch has ensured that there is absolutely no lane marking whatsoever in almost all the sections which have a new layer of tarmac. With your stock headlights it almost becomes impossible to conclude what lane you are on due to dark asphalt and darker medians. This is the state of affairs since almost 2 years now.

Hence, I have been stressing on the fact the curve on maps is not something that one can look and call is safe. This stretch under current state of affairs is not an easy one.

Having said that, it is too difficult to make any conclusion on how this may have happened. Driver error, miss-judgement, veering off the lane to avoid someone slowing down ahead (due to nature of the bridge surface).

The incident is indeed unfortunate which has claimed innocent lives in one of the most shocking manner.

[vibbs]

During my drive to Bangalore last Saturday, I had got confused seeing a similar diversion board (not sure if it's the same one). Luckily for me it was day time and I could make out the mistake. Plus there was a lot of traffic on the road otherwise. That time I just laughed off at the inefficiency of our authorities, didn't really realise things that could go wrong with such a lapse. Scary.

[kookaburra]

Originally Posted by BBR_SHR

This could explain a lot. Lack of visible damage to the barriers suggests that the car went straight in!!

"The car went straight in" is the most logical explanation..
At 2.30 am, the gap between bridges could very much be confused with a road!
Poor souls! RIP

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by sajo

What about the role of this misplaced "Diversion" board

Words fail me. When will the authorities wake up to the importance of properly marked road signs? Obviously others losing their lives does not seem to be having any impact.

Those 4 people lost their lives because the driver was probably alert enough to see the sign. This is not a case of him dozing off at all!!

[sagarpadaki]

NHAI must be sued for this and dragged to the court and made to pay a heavy compensation!! Heck even the gap between the two bridges is not covered! There must be some sort of railings starting some 100-200 meters before the bridge and continuing till the start of the bridge! There is no safety at all!