[Zooster]

Wow That's insane mate.. But glad You and your family are ok and escaped from this unscathed. But yeah from what you said its all about who you know and that's what it comes down to in the end to get the ball rolling in this country. If not you will be paying through your nose for everything and to everyone and the funny part it you will be paying them to do the job they are supposed to be doing in the first place..

Originally Posted by ike

Been a while since my last post here, the Mods can decide if this belongs here or in the accidents thread.

[Ajay_the_Don]

You did slow down on seeing the first set of cows. It's a cue that more can be expected down the line, just like how we encounter a squid followed by a pack of them on city roads.

I personally feel 90kmph on those back roads is asking for trouble. Glad that you are safe and didn't panic drive.

[ike]

Originally Posted by Ajay_the_Don

I personally feel 90kmph on those back roads is asking for trouble. Glad that you are safe and didn't panic drive.

This is not a back road, it is a national highway (NH16).

[hserus]

Originally Posted by ike

This is not a back road, it is a national highway (NH16).

I have driven down some back road sort of places that still qualify as a NH just because they’re a NH stretch. Not every NH in india is like the golden quadrilateral unfortunately.

If I see undivided road and no medians and villages nearby doing 90 might be fine but cruise control stays off and my feet are always near the brake pedal to deal with idiots or buffaloes.

Once you got the accident you did the right thing at the time to keep you and your family safe and the villagers don’t usually over react or descend to violence when they see a family present.

[madhav]

Scary stuff! I'm glad no one was hurt... except the poor buffalo.

Wishing you return to driving soon and put this incident behind you like a bad dream.

These kinds of incidents only reinforce a saying that I read somewhere when driving in Kerala, 'Expect the Unexpected'. This has stayed with me when I drive and I start expecting some crazy jaywalker or stray animal to jump out in front of my vehicle. This feeling gets amplified when I drive on highways. Although this guarantees no safety, and sometimes makes the driving stressful, I'd rather have this voice in my head keep telling me to be vigilant.

[tirumalavoleti]

Sorry for the scariest incident. Glad that you and family are safe.

I must say that you have hold the nerve and did not steer left which could have hit the harrier/safari on the left.

Please take some time and relax and do your course and claim with exact details.

Take care

[ike]

Originally Posted by hserus

Not every NH in india is like the golden quadrilateral unfortunately.

Ironic isn't it, this stretch is supposed to be part of the golden quadrilateral.

[ashis89]

For those doubt the condition/capacity of this road, please let me add. This is a proper 4-lane road, about 50 kms of concrete stretch on either side of the median. It might appear narrow because of the bush growth on sides/median but it isn't. This was one of the finest stretch of road a decade ago but looks dated today.

The bushes on the median/sides should be trimmed frequently. As @ike confirmed, it has been trimmed now.

As a negative point, this stretch of road doesn't have a shoulder all throughout to stop/park along side. However you will find wide 'bridge' type extensions every 5-10 kms or so. These are underpasses for the villages to commute without coming onto the highway. These spots are wider than 6 lanes and can be used to park. I had stopped there, back on Nov 29, 2021.

This is the location: 19.739984,85.183638

4 lanes with a wide median. The median itself is wide enough to park a truck on it


Underpass can be seen below


Clicked from the median. Overgrown bushes can be seen beside the road

[karanddd]

To be brutally honest, you were going way too fast for this stretch of road, where you have already seen cows on the road. The cows did not spontaneously emerge on the road, so they must have walked on from the adjacent bush, and likely with the same suddenness as the buffaloes that you hit. This should be enough of a cue to slow down. You were going way quicker than the two wheeler you passed and the Tata Harrier you honked at to let you overtake.

It's well known that we have stray cattle and dogs (and also non-stray herded cattle) all over the country, in every state and region. I do not know how, knowing this, anyone can drive at speeds like 90-100 kmph on back roads without side barriers, that is a recipe for disaster. Cattle and dogs do not check the road before crossing. Even hitting a dog at 90 kmph can bust up your car and make life very difficult.

Edit: Also, in my view, the official designation of the road (NH or SH or whatever) does not matter. They are not given on the basis of whether stray animals are found adjacent to the road.

[PapaBravo]

Glad to know you & family are safe ike. The ordeal that one has to go through for getting the car back on road after this type of accident is appalling.

Somehow I have heard of too many cases of cattle hits on NH16. I had also faced the same but was able to swerve. Had mentioned it here

Stay Safe !!

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by ike

http://Youtu.be/OwVqpp0bRsc

Ike, glad that you and your dear ones are safe, I mentioned this in our WA group as well, your response to the crash was good, it could have turned worse if you steered left.

On a side note, I found the video very insightful. I paused the video starting from 34 seconds in short intervals and observed how the field of view for the driver suddenly changes from clear to very dangerous, within a second.

In real world the image would be more clear (compared to the one seen here through a dash cam), but notice how the herd of buffaloes were disguised in the median and its surrounding, and suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Imagine something like this while driving on Indian highways at night.

Spike

[vjbox]

Firstly glad you and your family are out without a bruise. Lets give some pat on the back to the S-Cross build quality in this case as Buffaloes are tough as tanks. Based on what I noticed (and judged) the overtaking maneuver with thick bushes on the sides was a bit of a risk right there. Personally I am very wary about pulling overtakes if I see such thick bushes on the side and would rather lean back to the left lane for a bit until I get a clear sight for a speedy overtake. Needless to say that our highways are notorious for such animals let loose by their owners and many a times we see people in such towns dont really have the traffic sense and would cross the roads at their whim without having any idea of the incoming vehicles speeds. I have had many close calls with dogs, cows and ofcourse people randomly crossing. Nevertheless, we all go through these episodes in our lives and let these not discourage our drives in any manner as they only make us more cautious in the future. Good luck with the renewed ride.

[arjab]

The stretch between Balugaon to Ganjam is a stray cattle hotspot. The problem is even more acute during evenings when most of the cattle "come home".

I do this stretch regularly, commuting between Kolkata and Chennai, and my standard operating procedure is to stick to the middle lane or straddle two lanes ,yes i know it is a bad lane-driving practice, but thoughts of potential collisions prompt me to do thus. And i try not to stray close to either verge.
After Ganjam the stray cattle menace eases considerably.
Had once witnessed a horrific collision on this stretch in 2021 September, just before Balugaon, coming from Chennai side, of a biker with a buffalo. The motorbike was a mangled heap of metal and the person was being stabilised by 108 Emergency services. He looked badly out of shape. Pray to God that he recovered.
Be careful - all, and drive safe!

[Mr.Ogre]

Its glad that you guys made out unscathed. However, the thing that most upsets me is that you need contacts to come out of a situation like this. What if someone is not able to pull the strings - the very thought makes it so depressing.

I remember on one of my road trips from Mumbai to Goa via Pune-Kolhapur-Nipani.

One of the riders on a KTM RC390 in our group hit an old man near Kolhapur. The rider was doing high speeds, and also the old man was carelessly trying to cross the road.

The old man survived, however the next 12 hours were very harrowing. As expected villagers crowded the scene and threatened to get violent. Fortunately 2 cops arrived on time before things escalated. They intervened and took everyone to the police station. This incident happened more than 6 years ago, and last I heard the rider was still visiting court on a regular basis to settle the case.

[PetrolRider]

If I see properly, there was this guy who pushed the herd towards the road causing the accident. I am not sure how practical it is or was at that time, but you could have pushed the police to turn the GD into an FIR once the rapport has been established.
Odisha NHs, especially NH16 is a circus. Even I wouldn't dare cross 60 - 80 range in that zone. Not only the buffaloes, the wrong side bike riders / cycles crossing roads etc. are inviting trouble at every inch.
Happy to know, you and your family are safe.