Team-BHP
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This happened yesterday when I was driving back from Mangalore to Udupi. My aunt was sitting in the front passenger seat and my mother was in the back seat.
I was driving behind a bus, while having a lively conversation with the ladies. Suddenly I see a youth drop out of the bus and land flat on the road in front of my car. Two things saved the youth from getting overrun by my car.
1) An ingrained habit of maintaining correct distance from the vehicle in front, at any speed. That gave me enough room to take evasive action.
2) The training or muscle memory to brake and swerve left, in case of an obstacle in the front. There was simply no time to see both sides and pick the best option.
https://youtu.be/fTM0wRm9Ts4
As you can see in the video, he landed in front of me at 0:03 second, and I had passed him at 0:04 second. I had no time to think. By the time my conscious brain started thinking about it, I was watching him in the rear view mirror. I saw him get up and run away. Since both my aunt (70+) and my mother (82) were belted up, they didn't even notice the effect of my emergency braking. Instead, both were concerned with the youth as they couldn't see him. I told them he seemed unhurt, considering how he was running away from all the people staring at him in shock.
My aunt wanted me to stop the bus and yell at the driver. But I was not sure bus driver was even aware of the event. So we moved on.
Since yesterday we were all thinking that the poor fellow was innocently standing near the door and fell out when the bus veered off. Today when I saw the video, I realized that the youth was actually jumping out of the bus by his own will. Since the bus veered at the same time, he went off-balance and landed on his back. If the bus hadn't veered off, he would have still given me a lesser shock, by jumping in front of me. What an idiot! :mad:
Wow, incredible happy ending. Just how defensive one should be to make it home safe!
That was close! Glad that nothing untoward happened!
Also highlights the importance of the dashcam either way, especially in case the unthinkable had happened.
:thumbs up
What an idiot!
Sometimes I feel - Thanos was right! :deadhorse
Lucky that he fell and stayed in your lane. If he had fallen in the right lane or rolled over to the right lane, he would have been a minced meat under that gas tanker.
Normally anyone trying to alight from a running vehicle does that by running in the same direction of the bus after touching down.
This idiot has taken it to the next level if we was indeed trying to get off.
Kudos for you to maintain that distance. That guy was lucky it was not some tailgating vehicle that would have easily run over him.
Also, that bus driver was driving like an idiot. Swerving/ diving in and out of lanes at such high speeds. Its a wonder none of the passengers speak up against such kind of rash driving.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sagarpadaki
(Post 4474553)
Lucky that he fell and stayed in your lane. If he had fallen in the right lane or rolled over to the right lane, he would have been a minced meat under that gas tanker.
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That's true. There was no way that heavy gas tanker could have stopped or swerved in time.
That must have been heart-in-mouth situation for the young fellow as well as yourself. Kudos to you for being so attentive and keeping safe distance. :thumbs up
The 3rd good thing you did is to install a dash cam. If this would have turned south, dash cam would have been a great saviour.
Looks like the fellow was standing in the open door casually and with the centrifugal force of the bus turning threw him out without warning.
Hopefully, this incident will teach him a lesson on safety. :Frustrati
I dont see him attempting to jump. Maybe with the sudden twist of the bus, he lost his footing. His hands are the last thing to come off the bus.
Good that nothing happened thanks to your driving. Shouldn't you have stopped and enquired ? just for closure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai
(Post 4474518)
I told them he seemed unhurt, considering how he was running away from all the people staring at him in shock.
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He was one lucky chap. Even if nothing else, the mere impact of him hitting the road and injuring his head / spinal cord, could have rendered him disabled for life.
This happened once to me a couple of years ago. I was in the middle lane of a 3 laned road. The signal turned green and I was doing probably 30kmph and accelerating to get into 3rd gear.
A little ahead on the left lane there was a small goods carrier (the size that carries a couple of cupboards). To my right lane a city transport bus was coming up. Behind me there was another company bus. A bright spark on an activa tried to cut from the left between me and the goods carrier. Unfortunately, he hit the goods carrier and fell down in front of my Jazz.
I literally stood on the brakes with the risk of a bus rearending me. Thankfully from his higher seating position, the bus driver was able to see these antics, anticipated and braked on time. I could feel the ABS kick in and at the same time see the horror on the face of the Activa rider as he lay waiting for the car to run him over.
A few seconds later, he had the nerve to get up and admonish me for driving rashly. Before I could respond, the bus driver behind me had already sprung to my rescue and asked the Activa driver to consider himself lucky to survive because I braked and shouted at him to clear out. There were a couple of guys sitting in the rear of the goods carrier and they too jumped out to berate the Activa rider.
I still asked if he needed some help, but the other guys refused to hear any of it and demanded that we all get out of there to avoid jamming up traffic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by srishiva
(Post 4474573)
Good that nothing happened thanks to your driving. Shouldn't you have stopped and enquired ? just for closure.
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Considering such issues, it is better not to stop. Even if we have dashcam evidence or not. It is not as if there is an accident victim that needs to be moved to hospital or anything that Samurai could have helped with. if anything was pending to be done, the part of the body that the guy fell on needs to be whacked a few times more :deadhorse
Maybe include the bus driver too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by srishiva
(Post 4474573)
Shouldn't you have stopped and enquired ? just for closure.
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Inquired with who? I could see him jogging away on the service road in a distance on the rear view mirror. I didn't see a point in chasing him, leaving two senior citizens in my car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by selfdrive
(Post 4474555)
Also, that bus driver was driving like an idiot. Swerving/ diving in and out of lanes at such high speeds. Its a wonder none of the passengers speak up against such kind of rash driving.
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Most of the private buses that ply that route are driven like that. And it's been that way for a long time, I remember the same buses back when I was in college in that region.
Great defensive driving and a lucky escape for everyone. And dashcam, dashcam, dashcam. Going to get one asap!
Quote:
Originally Posted by selfdrive
(Post 4474555)
Also, that bus driver was driving like an idiot. Swerving/ diving in and out of lanes at such high speeds. Its a wonder none of the passengers speak up against such kind of rash driving.
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That is absolutely normal for these guys in this part of world. They are maniacs. We can't do anything other than be aware of their presence and either give them way or zoom ahead. Never be near by them.
Passengers will just joke that the driver is fit to be an F1 driver.
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