[Tamarind]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Maybe the truck driver was new, because nowadays it is best to see the head of the biker to see which way he is going to turn. I have found it more accurate than their indicator lights.

He appeared to be in his mid 30's if not younger. But one thing i observed for sure is that he must have made his first life threatening accident !

Originally Posted by frostbite911

Its funny how many car manufacturers still sell lower variants of their cars without a Left hand side mirror.

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

EDIT: Maybe these should be charged separately and compulsory. Once Indians spend on something, they remember its use.

Completely agree with Vinit.Merchant on this one.
To add to that, the government should make it a norm to regularly check the integrity of those mirrors during FC's for taxis and during service visits for personal vehicles !

Originally Posted by reverse_gear

Quietly slipped in a 40+ jibe. #Sneaky.

Don't think we oldies haven't noticed; we will get back.

On a serious note, good illustration.

Thank you Sir

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

A small confusion. Did we just put the entire blame on the tanker driver or by 'driver' you meant the lady rider?

The way I look at it wouldn't have happened if the rider didn't change lanes without seeing behind and am sure without indication. Also u shouldn't overtake from the left anyways.

Yes Altocumulus, i was pointing it to the "two wheeler driven by the lady" who was the root cause of the accident

** Ohh boy ! i just learned the term "root cause analysis" from my boss earlier and did i already get a chance to use the word **

[sreeharipv]

Originally Posted by tharian

Very nicety narrated

Another very annoying trait of two wheelers or for that matter even 4 wheelers is when they drive on the left lane and another hero comes out from a lane to join the main road without stopping, the guy in the left lane automatically starts veering towards the right without checking their side. It is like they have to go around the vehicle that is joining from the lane whatever may be.

Only when you honk do they realize they are not the only ones on the road.

But you seem to be okay with the 'Hero' of the story? The left lane guy might do that out of reflex (I mean not all the way to the middle of the right lane, but a small swerve can be forgiven).

All the credit is due to the Hero, who without bothering to flex his neck muscles merges in from a 90 degree approach road just like a hero is entitled to.

I mean when will people start to value their own lives?

[veedub89]

Nowadays most two wheelers rely on other road users not hitting them rather than making a conscious decision to avoid accidents themselves.

One would think that they would be more careful considering they are driving around in the least safe vehicle on the road. But no! They act as if they own the road. Other road users need to be extra careful when approaching two-wheelers. I know I am. Another thing I don't understand is why they insist on driving in the rightmost lane?!

I feel it's all down to how they get the license to drive in the first place. The test before the license is handed out is a sham.

[Swapnil_Alto]

As Sheel Sir said, we need more people like you. I appreciate your effort of narrating this incident for the betterment of us. I will not lie, before becoming a BHPian, I was not as responsible as I am now. I believed if mirror caused problem in bike, get rid of it. But I was completely wrong, and now I ride my bike with both the mirrors on and I'm used to it, it doesn't cause any problem to me rather it helps a lot. I've a '04 Maruti Suzuki Alto and we didn't have left ORVM factory fitted in it but I got it installed a year ago. Indeed it helps a lot. Loved the way how you represented the incident.

Regards,
Swapnil

[abhii176]

Originally Posted by frostbite911

Its funny how many car manufacturers still sell lower variants of their cars without a Left hand side mirror.

Well there are enough idiots on the road who, despite having both operational mirrors, choose to drive with one (/or both) mirrors(/s) folded! Can never understand what goes on in their heads! You see enough two wheelers as well with both mirrors folded and the rider merrily zigzagging out of traffic.

This incident just goes to show how one stupid driver can lead to a massive pile up. Hope the lady rider has learned her lesson though.

[unleash_thunder]

Have been involved in one such accident, wherein i gave indicator to turn right well in advance and was constantly glancing at the right ORVM. Just when i was about to turn, a biker appeared from no where and tried to squeeze in between and rammed in the front right door. I was so furious that i wanted to teach that moron the lesson of his life, but cooled down after seeing the damage was not significant.

[createrkid]

It's pretty sad that some people don't even acknowledge the fact that you've turned on your indicators. The first thing they do is *Beep Beep* , "I'm coming through, you have to let me pass, I don't care if you've toggled your indicators, I beeped and even if I didn't beep, you have to look out for me. Oh, I hit you? *insert expletives* , T'is but a scratch"

Interesting Illustration , was in splits and smiles reading your wonderful narration.

[dhruvtanwar]

Dude, if everyone told an accident story like you did, I'd be waiting for more of them to happen!
Jokes apart, kudos on the illustrative narration. This makes me love the fact that my OVRMs are constantly in the open position, even when parked
Cheers!

[Tamarind]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

Also u shouldn't overtake from the left anyways.

If you are indicating the lorry here, I am not sure whether his intentions were to turn left after the signal (in which case it is the correct thing to drive on the left most lane) or go straight ahead !

Originally Posted by tharian

Very nicety narrated
Only when you honk do they realize they are not the only ones on the road.

Thank you,
Regarding the honking: Do you really think honking helps ?

In my 5 year driving experience, i faced very very low success rate with honking on such situations and end up hitting sudden brakes at the last moment !

On hearing the purchase of my car, My uncle once told me -

"Learning to drive without you making an accident is just one part of driving" whereas the most important part come later, with experience.
The part where you "learn to drive to avoid accidents which can/will be made by others".

Very soon, I realized that the only way i can save my car from dents and scratches is to "brake proactively" !

Originally Posted by madhu33

Now ,howz that for a pictorial representation . Simply too good .
Thanks for sharing .
India needs more people like you.

Sad but true, i find our roads to be the most dangerous ones across the globe.
-The driving licenses are issued without any tests (on many instances)
-No rules being followed by even the educated lot, leave aside an illiterate rickshaw driver.
-Its hard in today's time in Mumbai to find a sight on the roads wherein every vehicle is following the rules.

Anyways, will not take the thread OT.

That was a wonderful pictorial . The cat pics and emotions were fun.

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

What a wonderful way to teach lane discipline and the importance of RVMs. Kudos!

We need more creative people like you in the field of road safety awareness. Great work!

Thank you madhu33, Added_flavor

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

• Will definitely share this with as many people as possible. I am too lazy to go into such detailed description. Than you for providing the material.
• To add this, I have seen many drivers with folded side view mirror and busy texting while driving. I come across at least one such driver every day. They put in danger all the cars around them (cars in front, rear or at sides). Hope they also read this and keep roads bit more safer than they are.

Yes sourabhzen, the real success for the effort comes when this is shared with as many people as possible to make them aware of the consequences

I guess, "Showing this is what happens when you do it" is much effective than repeatedly saying "not to do it" !
And, practically i saw a change in behavior of my friend when i showed him the pics and explained him the incident. (First thing he did after the explanation was correcting the side mirrors on his bike before he left our place)

Originally Posted by utsav1303

Wonderful explanation.
The driver should have stopped and applied N gear and parking brake rather than viewing backwards while driving.

Thanks Utsav1303
Guess his fear of causing a death overruled the obvious logic to stop the vehicle first !

[IshaanIan]

Bravo! You certainly were the model citizen here. Sorry, but what happened to the lady rider? Considering she was a woman on a two wheeler, was she exempt of any blame? She really shouldn't be and I hope the dim fool was made to understand he fault

[luvtandon]

What you have shared here tamarind is what happens daily on the Indian roads.

The lady driver and the lorry driver both were at fault.

The only difference between the two was that the lady driver has made herself to suffer with a broken arm as a result of her callousness and the lorry driver has caused multiple people to suffer due to his inability to react appropriately in the scenario.

Hope we learn a lesson from this incident and be more careful while driving as one stupid action can lead to a cascading effect as in this case.

[GTO]

Not only do you write well & have a terrific sense of humour, but - more importantly - you are a good samaritan. Kudos!

Originally Posted by veedub89

One would think that they would be more careful considering they are driving around in the least safe vehicle on the road.

Our roads are full of morons, in vehicles of all shapes & sizes. This single video is enough to illustrate why a good driver has to always be prepared for the unexpected. You can't merely drive 'right'; you have to watch out for the 'wrongs' of others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1FbxBnarqM

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Tamarind

Thank you,
Regarding the honking: Do you really think honking helps ?

Does work in Bangalore, but I noticed in Madras, it does not.

I have two sets of horns, one is VW loud which I use specifically for morons who ride /drive like like they are walking in their backyard.
Last week when I was there, nothing worked and I had to do a lot of anticipatory braking like you mentioned.

[Jeroen]

Thanks for sharing that story, loved the cartoons!

If I might add something, its not only about using side mirrors and indicators when shifting lanes. In most western countries you are taught this:

- look in your mirror
- look over your shoulder
- turn on your indicator

There is a certain dead space that your mirror doesn't cover, so you actually turn your head in that direction,which is roughly over your shoulder.

Fail to do so on a western driving test and you will have flunked the test!

Jeroen

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by Tamarind

On hearing the purchase of my car, My uncle once told me -

"Learning to drive without you making an accident is just one part of driving" whereas the most important part come later, with experience.
The part where you "learn to drive to avoid accidents which can/will be made by others".!

Something similar was quoted by my father when I started learning on the Scooter (the heavy Vijay Super)...

"Think of every one else on the road as a fool who can do anything, you should be doing things right and be ready for anything."

If everyone on the road thought the same there would be no chaos...