[Surprise]

That's a horrible accident.

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

It is not as difficult as said. Just requires some patience and observation. Takes less than a minute to complete the whole process

Well said, Sathish. I had observed if drivers failed an attempt or two in overtaking, they decide to get it succeed the third one at any cost. No one should be blamed for unsuccessful attempts & there is no point in getting frustrated. And obviously they risk themselves & others

[tsk1979]

On NH24 its very easy to get into such a situation. Picture this. You are on a curve doing 60-70 on your side. A mad bus comes hurtling down overtaking a truck. I went offroad on the not so good berm, but on some stretches there is no berm. In such cases when I cant see, I slow down to 40 on such highways so that even if a crazy dude hits me, I am still, and in a stationary car the injury is minumal if you are wearing seatbelts.
If you are doing 80 and somebody at 80 hits you, then you are toast.

[ntomer]

I recently travelled on this highway on my way to Ranikhet. Maintenance work was going on and only one side of road was open for both sides. It was a nightmare driving from Garhmukteshwar to Moradabad. Tractors, bullock-carts, trucks, buses vying for the little space.

\N

[sumitsingh]

Very sad.

Hope the owner recovers soon. Its better to be safe than sorry and a little bit more patience and defensive driving can avoid this in most cases. I often travel on the GT road from Delhi to Aligarh and see numerous drivers involved in accidents where the only logical way to explain the accident is that somebody's ego got the better of them.

Please drive safe, there are people waiting for you at the destination.

[car_whizz]

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

• Always keep atleast 30 - 40 meters between you and the vehicle before you. If you are driving fast or you are having bad brakes keep the distance even more.
• When planning to overtake keep watch on the traffic in the opposite lane without decreasing the distance between you and vehicle before you.
• Overtake only from the right side of the other vehicle.
• When the lane is clear, and there are no curves immediately ahead and you have comfortable space to get back to your lane after passing the vehicle, only then attempt to overtake.
• Make sure that nobody is trying to overtake you from behind.
• Give a clear signal to the driver in the front that you are planning to overtake.
• Wait for a confirmation from the other driver for you to overtake or atleast he moves to left giving you more space to overtake.
• If the driver is indicating to hold, listen to him. He is seeing something that is not visible to you.
• When overtaking, increase the speed of the car just quick enough that you finish the overtaking faster, not something that you may loose control of your car.
• After you pass the vehicle, don't immediately get back in to left lane. Continue in the same lane until you see complete front of the vehicle you just passed in your passenger side rear view mirror. Be cautious, the distance between could be less than what you see in outer rear view mirror.
• Get back in to the left lane.
• Use your right indicator when you are planning to overtake to hint the drivers behind you. After you pass the vehicle, switch the left indicator to hint that you are moving back in to left lane.

One more caution..

Come down to preferably one gear down if you are driving on the top gear.

___________
Car Whizz

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

On NH24 its very easy to get into such a situation. Picture this. You are on a curve doing 60-70 on your side. A mad bus comes hurtling down overtaking a truck. I went offroad on the not so good berm, but on some stretches there is no berm. In such cases when I cant see, I slow down to 40 on such highways so that even if a crazy dude hits me, I am still, and in a stationary car the injury is minumal if you are wearing seatbelts.
If you are doing 80 and somebody at 80 hits you, then you are toast.

Exactly! I've seen this "80-81 syndrome" umpteen number of times. Bus-A is travelling at 80Kmph, and bus-B tries to overtake at 81 Kmph. Bus-A will not slow down and allow B to overtake. Bus B will take eternity to increase the speed beyond 81.

Now, what happens if you are in the opposite lane? Just bring down your speed ASAP, and if possible get off the road. This 80-81 situation will not get resolved among the bus drivers. They dont care !!

One of my friend's zen got totalled in such a situation and he lost his cousin in the accident. This was on NH-7.

[rks]

Wonder who was at fault here? Could be the bus driver (the majority view apparenly) but could also be the Indigo driver.

To add to the list by Satish Appasani:

--While overtaking, there is usually no need to hit the right edge of the road. Often I see drivers make an exagerrated move to the right to give themselves a very wide margin from the vehicle they are overtaking. Of course you need some margin, but to move too far to the right means that you are taking that much longer to overtake and also that much longer to get back to your side of the road. I personally make many tight overtakes by giving myself a minimal margin from the vehicle I am overtaking -- I am watching the vehicle very closely in case it makes a sudden move to the right.

-- When you make a follow-through overtake, make sure you have seen ahead of the vehicle you are following -- either by looking through its windshield or by initially positioning your vehicle between the two vehicles ahead of you.

[Surprise]

[quote=rks
-- When you make a follow-through overtake, make sure you have seen ahead of the vehicle you are following -- either by looking through its windshield or by initially positioning your vehicle between the two vehicles ahead of you.[/quote]

Good point.

Once on a highway, I was following 2 trucks. Second truck followed the first one with little gap inbetween & if at all I want to overtake, I need to make sure that I overtook both of them at one shot.

Moved towards the right & the road was empty. While intending to push off, the second truck came to right for overtaking the first truck. Since both of the trucks were more or less of same speed, it took few extra seconds for the truck 2 to move ahead of truck 1.

I followed the truck-2 thinking that the way ahead was clear. As soon as the truck 1 moved into the LHS slot, I see a Skoda at higher speeds infront of me. I was shocked. Since the skoda has moved to its exterme left to accomodate space for truck-1, I was able to pass inbetween truck-2 & skoda.

Lesson learnt that day: Never ever do a follow through overtake. If the vehicle coming in the opposite direction flies in high speed, it will be in front of you before you could imagine.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Good point.

Once on a highway, I was following 2 trucks. Second truck followed the first one with little gap inbetween & if at all I want to overtake, I need to make sure that I overtook both of them at one shot.

Moved towards the right & the road was empty. While intending to push off, the second truck came to right for overtaking the first truck. Since both of the trucks were more or less of same speed, it took few extra seconds for the truck 2 to move ahead of truck 1.

I followed the truck-2 thinking that the way ahead was clear. As soon as the truck 1 moved into the LHS slot, I see a Skoda at higher speeds infront of me. I was shocked. Since the skoda has moved to its exterme left to accomodate space for truck-1, I was able to pass inbetween truck-2 & skoda.

Lesson learnt that day: Never ever do a follow through overtake. If the vehicle coming in the opposite direction flies in high speed, it will be in front of you before you could imagine.

that is the stupidest thing that one can do on the highway. i have done it too, but have realised that it is not worth the risk at all. good you learnt your lesson surprise. this thing is common with taxis/chauffered cars.

[jessie007]

Accidents like this are a sobering reminder for us bhp-ites to use our discretion and not be tempted to use up all the bhp available in our vehicles.

The car might be good (in terms of handling, braking and safety features), the driver might be good, but one doesn’t know about the other person on the road – how educated he is in road driving atleast and whether he is aware of the limitation of his vehicle; what road conditions are like and are people staying besides highways aware about the traffic rules. All these factors play a big part in our country.

Although traffic in metros is relatively decent nowadays, but there is a sizable floating vehicle population from other states and small cities, whose drivers might not be fully aware of the driving conditions and rules prevalent in the city. No doubt India has come a long way but there is still a long way to go before everyone (whether owning a vehicle or not) is aware of the traffic rules and those driving follow safe driving practices

[jessie007]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Accidents like this are a sobering reminder for us bhp-ites to use our discretion and not be tempted to use up all the bhp available in our vehicles. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]The car might be good (in terms of handling, braking and safety features), the driver might be good, but one doesn’t know about the other person on the road – how educated he is in road driving atleast and whether he is aware of the limitation of his vehicle; what road conditions are like and are people staying besides highways aware about the traffic rules. All these factors play a big part in our country. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Although traffic in metros is relatively decent nowadays, but there is a sizable floating vehicle population from other states and small cities, whose drivers might not be fully aware of the driving conditions and rules prevalent in the city. No doubt India has come a long way but there is still a long way to go before everyone (whether owning a vehicle or not) is aware of the traffic rules and those driving follow safe driving practices.[/SIZE][/FONT]