[scorpio2107]

Some backstory

I am a relatively new driver, having driven for only the last 4 months. Being a member of team bhp, I always practice defensive driving.

I never knew that such a small accident would leave me so shaken. I was shaking throughout the interactions with the police and the auto driver. It is only now that I understand the trauma that people go through in major accidents.

The Incident

We had just left our apartment and was approaching this junction. Contrary to what it looks like in the video, this is not a four-way junction. The road that goes straight (the one I'm on), is the main road. The road to the left is a pretty busy road that merges on the main road. The road the auto-driver comes from is a small alleyway road that ends in a dead-end.

As you can see from the video, we have police right in front of us. I am driving very slowly and cautiously. When I am about to enter the junction (in theory I could just fly by as I have the right of way, which I will never do!), there is already an Innova blocking my view of the alleyway road. I cautiously approach the junction and the moment the auto driver appears in the video is when I am looking to the left to make sure no cars are approaching. He then flies out of the road, not stopping or looking and the moment I spot him, I slam on the brakes (I'm in a Scorpio which is a large car and takes time to brake) as well as the horn. He should have stopped and looked before proceeding, because I have the right of way.

As you can see from the video, the police officer resorts to blaming me first but later in the video say it is both of our faults (not heard).

I am posting this here as I am not sure whose fault it is. I feel extremely guilty for no reason. I am open to criticism of any kind. (Was this my fault??)

The Video:

Incident at 0.25 mark

https://youtu.be/zP4w3-JH4Tk

Aftermath

In the end, we decided to give the auto driver 300 rupees on persuasion of the police. The Scorpio suffered lots of paint transfer and a few scratches. I buffed the paint transfer as soon as possible but there were still a few scratches remaining.









This incident has taught me to be at least 10x more careful at junctions. I can only imagine if I was a bit faster and the auto had tipped, what it would do to me.

Drive Safe guys!

[Mr.Boss]

Sorry about the incident and glad that the damage is only to the material and again very minimal. I could understand how much it hurts when our beloved machine is getting damaged, but stay relax and thank your stars for both of you were not doing extreme speeds and land with a bigger damage.

Originally Posted by scorpio2107

He should have stopped and looked before proceeding, because I have the right of way.

Correct me if I'm wrong, right of rule says the one on right side has the priority
Your exact scenario is not captured here though


https://transport.delhi.gov.in/content/rules-road

But that hardly happens with our traffic sense

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by scorpio2107

... there is already an Innova blocking my view of the alleyway road.

Note that if you couldn't see him - he probably couldn't see you either.


There is one thing i noticed in the video which isn't immediately apparent...

The rickshaw isn't just driving across perpendicular to you. He is cutting across from the RHS of the road he is on (oncoming lane) to the LHS of the road as he crosses the junction.

If he wasn't doing this, you would have probably managed to stop in time.

It also doesn't seem like he saw you until much later.

Lesson to learn : Never take driving on Indian roads for granted, no matter the familiarity of the neighborhood or the 'slow' speed.

[landcruiser123]

Sorry about your incident. I'm glad there was so serious injury/damage. A little care from your end could have avoided the whole incident. The slightly staggered roads make it a bit complicated. From your perspective, the road on the left is slightly ahead compared to the road on the right. Instruction from my motorcycle training course: Always remember, when faced with a complicated junction/maneuver, deal with one obstacle at a time.

Sure, the Innova parked on the edge blocked your view. But as a defensive driver, you should always anticipate a vehicle/pedestrian to pop out (without care) on the road behind the Innova and then focus on avoiding traffic from the left.

Don't let the incident scare you. We all make mistakes. Turn off the music (for a few weeks) when you're driving though this stretch near your house.

[ninjatalli]

The best part of driving - every day is a learning. I have been driving for over 20 years and I still figure out something new that I didn’t know. In my honest opinion, you did good.

A few points (take it as observations, not criticism)
- always get line of sight at unmanned junctions. Do not assume you have the right of way, at least not on Indian roads. The Innova was a constraint, so good you were at low speeds
- this could have had more worse outcomes (for the auto and his passengers). Treat the scratch and 300Rs as minor reminders of this incident and move on.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by scorpio2107

...
I am a relatively new driver, having driven for only the last 4 months. Being a member of team bhp, I always practice defensive driving.
...

Welcome to India!

Right of way, no parking at an intersection, defensive driving etc are all myths here.

Lesson learnt:

Always expect someone or something to come out if there's a way someone or something could come out.

Honk, slow down, watch and proceed.

As for the scratches on the bumper, it's meant to take scratches, so don't worry about it much.

[vigsom]

In our country, our brain needs to work like a 128 bit computer. No rules are followed.

I ran the video several times, and, if I had been in your place, I would have slowed down and passed the junction after the autorickshaw.

[RedTerrano]

First of all +1 on having a dashcam. For a country like ours, it is becoming more and more advisable to have one.

Defensive driving? Right of way? None of these matter in India.
Here is the bitter truth: The one with the bigger vehicle is always at fault.

Don't let these small accidents affect you. All of us have been there, suffered that.
Do your best and leave everything else to God.

[vinu_h]

It's important to pick your battles and I would have let go of this one the moment the traffic police did their offline kangaroo court ruling towards the autorickshaw. Tell yourself that INR 300 was donated towards a good cause and move on.

I for one, right of way or not, always approach a junction with caution.

[moralfibre]

As a general rule of thumb, I slow down at every junction and let go off the accelerator when passing streets that have a lot of bylanes merging. Which is pretty much everywhere. The speeds at these places get slower at night when the probability of high speed merges is greater.

Our roads are filled with idiots and the blame is directly proportional to the size of the vehicle: Pedestrian > Handcarts > Cycle > Moped > Scooter > Motorbike > Rickshaw > Hatch > Sedan > Crossover > SUV > Minitruck / bus > Truck / bus > Trailer

[GTO]

Originally Posted by scorpio2107

I am a relatively new driver, having driven for only the last 4 months.

Would say both of you are at fault because neither looked for the other at a junction. Since you are a new driver, let me share the biggest safety tip for Indian roads.

ANTICIPATE & be prepared for the worst

- If you see a rickshaw at a junction, be prepared for him cutting across your path at the last second.

- If you see a pedestrian standing on the divider, be prepared for him to walk across the road suddenly.

- If you are overtaking a bus from the right, be prepared for him to cut right without warning, into your lane. When I am overtaking someone, I watch not only my path, but also the bus driver's path. Why? Because if someone is blocking his lane (or going slower than him), he will move to the right to overtake that 3rd party.

- If you are in a roundabout, be prepared for no one to give you right of way. Less than 1% of Indian drivers understand the concept of "right of way". Instead, it usually is "my way or the highway". You are solely responsible to protect yourself, your car's occupants & your car.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by scorpio2107

I am a relatively new driver, having driven for only the last 4 months. I always practice defensive driving.

You need to spend little more time behind the wheel. If you see your initial stop for an incoming car, you should have gone little ahead and to your left if the street is not wide for 2 vehicles to pass. You stopped at a curve and started moving when the other vehicle was next to you.

Coming to the Auto-Rickshaw incident, I cannot make out which road is a main or has a right of way. This can mean either a stop sign for you or a four way stop in other parts of the world but we normally go with intuitions, looking into the eye or actions of other and decide who is going to move here. It also depends on the type of vehicle, expecting a three wheeler to stop for you when it’s so close call is not correct.

One thing that many confuse is that slow driving is not a defensive driving, it can have it’s own problems.

Last week, I went in my colleagues EcoSport, he is driving for over 5 years now and must have done over 3 lac Km. He proudly says that he is a safe and defensive driver and will not go over 70-80 even on a highway. He kept on driving at 70-80 on Ambala- Ludhiana highway, where speed limit is 90 but wherever there were diversions or on service roads, he will try to overtake others when speed was 30-40. He simply does not realise that its not safe to overtake or drive at higher speeds when the road conditions are not good, in this case traffic was coming from both sides on a service road but he feels Ok in trying overtaking manoeuvres as his speed is less.

I will always slow down on approaching any town or seeing population on a highway irrespective of how fast I have been going on a highway. I don’t see changing speed limit signs on most and even if there are, people hardly change unless there are speed breakers.

Take this as a lesson and move ahead.

[Bibendum90949]

Experience is the best teacher and you can only get better from here, so don't lose sleep over this. Battle wounds are indeed good and will keep you in good stead for the many miles you'll clock in your life.

On Indian roads, always expect the unexpected. Also never expect others on the road to be driving safely and cautiously like us, and never bother to teach anyone a driving 'lesson', not worth it. Once we accept this, our drives are much safer and lives on our roads are much easier. In fact we always have to be on the money. There's not a nano second we can take our eyes off the road and drop our guard. That's Indian roads for you in a nutshell !

[scorpio2107]

A huge thank you to all the members who took the time to respond.

I understand that I carry some responsibility in what happened and should have been more vigilant.

All of the tips mentioned here will now be with me throughout my driving career. I hope this thread also helps other new drivers to stay vigilant and expect anything.

[am1m]

When a lot of drivers/riders in the country don't even stop at red lights and use the footpaths as roads, expecting anyone to respect (or even know of the concept) 'right of way' and driving/walking on our roads with that expectation is asking for trouble! And expecting the cops to care is also again unrealistic.

At the same time don't let that deter you, with practice you'll get used to driving in any sort of chaos.