[nikusebu]

Hi Team BHPians!!!!

Well this my first post here! Just found my time now to post and share one of my life endangering experiences that I had just 4 days after my wedding.

Since childhood I've been a fan of the Chevy Cruze aka the diesel rocket and always wanted to own one. And after 12 long years on 1st September 2022 I finally bought a pre-owned 2010 Cruze AT which was in absolute mint condition, looked like a beast. The car had clocked close to 1.1 lakh kms. Now, the whole reason for me to buy this car was also to surprise my wife for our wedding as a gift to her.

11th September 2022 was our wedding and all my family members were really astonished to see a 12 year old car in such a brilliant condition. Everything went on well, my wife just loved the car and couldn't stop talking about it. And that's when we decided to drive to her hometown, Kerala. A day before the journey had a quick check on the car by the mechanic and everything was just perfect.

15th September 2022, we start off at 5am from Bangalore and we'd decided to take the Bangalore - Salem - Dindigul - Cumbum - Kumily - Ranni - Pathanamthitta route. Just for the heads up the previous night we happened to sleep very early as we were busy all day and the morning we woke up we never felt sleep deprived. So, as we were driving through the route, we were just enjoying our time talking, listening to music and of course I was even able to unleash the beast within the diesel rocket.

Around 9 - 9.30am we finished Dindigul and were traveling through Rasipuram. And not to forget, the Tamil Nadu highways had barricades every 5-10kms stretch. Just as we were driving through Rasipuram we were on the right lane behind a mini bus and was making my way to overtake from the left lane. As I came to the left lane trying to overtake I happened to see a water tanker ahead of me but at a reasonable distance to overtake the minibus on my right.

But here's were things changed, as I was overtaking the minibus on the left, there was a barricade on the right lane which was ahead of the minibus. As I almost finished overtaking the minibus, the minibus was nearing the barricade and he happened to jump to left lane which led him to hit my right quarter panel and he kept coming on me, which made me to steer to the left and got me out of the road and I was approaching the water tanker that was parked.

Boom!!!!! That's all I heard! We hit the water tanker on our left, literally flipped it over, our car went round 360 degrees and ended up on the divider. The airbags were out and my wife was in a really big shock. The villagers and passersby came in pulled us out of the car because our seat belts were jammed and wouldn't release.

The minibus just vanished, we were left with the villagers and the cops came in a while. To my amazement my wife was uninjured without a single scratch though the entire impact was on the left side and I ended up with a few scratches on my right forearm as my window was broken.

I called my parents, informed them about the situation in a calming way, but they were really worried and drove themselves down from Bangalore and after a few formalities we returned back to Bangalore leaving the car back at a garage and my dad convinced me to scrap the car rather than fixing it. It was a tough but ended up going with my dad's decision of scrapping it.

Trust me, Cruze is a rock solid car, a 12 year old car withstanding and leaving us uninjured on such a huge impact is just amazing. To me safety has always been a priority in cars and I'd always known that the Cruze was the best at this. The entire family was shocked about this and were praising the Cruze for its ruggedness.

Remember safety should always be a priority. Seat belts, airbags and a strong car must be in our minds when we think of a car.

Adios

A few pics of the incident.

[SILVER-ARROW]

Thank your stars for coming out unharmed from the crash.

Originally Posted by nikusebu

Hi Team BHPians!!!!

Remember safety should always be a priority. Seat belts, airbags and a strong car must be in our minds when we think of a car.

Never ever overtake from the left whatever be the situation. Allow the vehicle in front to give you way to overtake from right.

[nikusebu]

Originally Posted by SILVER-ARROW

Thank your stars for coming out unharmed from the crash.



Never ever overtake from the left whatever be the situation. Allow the vehicle in front to give you way to overtake from right.
Attachment 2425003

Completely agree with you on that of not overtaking from the left. But there are certain senseless people, in spite of honking, passing lights and tailing them for long they never make or give way. And then your left with the option of overtaking them from the left.

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by nikusebu

To my amazement my wife was uninjured without a single scratch though the entire impact was on the left side and I ended up with a few scratches on my right forearm as my window was broken.

I'm so relieved to hear that you were able to walk away with just a scratch and that you weren't hurt more seriously. It's always scary when things like this happen on the road. It's also impressive to hear that the Chevy sustained a good impact and that the left side passenger remained unscathed. You must have been quite shaken up, but thankfully everyone involved was okay in the end.

Originally Posted by nikusebu

Yup I completely agree with that of not overtaking from the left, but there are certain people who never make way even after honking, passing lights and even tailing them for long. So the option we have left is overtake from the left.

I understand how frustrating it can be to deal with inconsiderate drivers who refuse to move over, even though they're driving slowly in the right lane. However, it's important to be aware of the situation and take precautions when overtaking on the left. One should stay alert and use the horn and passlight to signal the mini-bus driver. This can help prevent accidents that might occur due to small miscalculations or misunderstandings, such as the mini-bus driver assuming you would cross within a certain timeframe or may be he haven't seen you in his mirror where passlight would have made in aware of the situation.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by nikusebu

Remember safety should always be a priority. When we think of a car, seat belts, airbags, and a strong car must be in our minds.

God saved you twice, first while buying the Cruze, and second while driving the Cruze. All the safest cars of the last decade in India were discarded by the majority of car buyers as they gave high priority to service and resale over injury/death.

[nikusebu]

Originally Posted by deehunk

God saved you twice, first while buying the Cruze, and second while driving the Cruze. All the safest cars of the last decade in India were discarded by the majority of car buyers as they gave high priority to service and resale over injury/death.

Absolutely correct! I'm currently driving a 2009 Honda Civic which I believe is another strong one.

[rajathv8]

What is one supposed to do in such a situation?

While I know overtaking from the left should be avoided, on Indian roads it is wishful thinking to expect people to move over and let you overtake.
While overtaking from the left, the barricade on right lane will not be visible till one has committed and is already partially execution the overtake. The visibility of the barricade reduces as the distance between the barricade and vehicle reduces and this also increases the chance of the vehicle on the left swerving to the right.

The situation is not much better when overtaking from the right either since there could be a barricade on the left that would compel the vehicle on left lane to swerve to the right.

I have been in this situation at times and it can leave the nerves frayed.

[AKSarkar1]

They just don't make 'em like that anymore!! Couldn't be more true for the Cruze, a gem of a machine.

I believe this is one of your first few posts on the forum so thank you for taking out the time to share your story, you never know who you might convince to just drive a bit safer the next time they are on the road.

Having said that, repeating the obvious, please don't ever overtake from the left!! While it might be okay on slug speed city roads or breezy country lanes, such habits can cost you dearly on Highways. I am glad that you were in a Cruze and not a Wagon-R, the outcomes could have been very different regardless of whose fault it was!

Drive Safe and all the best!

[Maverick_4662]

Glad to hear you and your wife are safe. The Cruze is one impeccably built car rated at 5 stars both in GNCAP and ANCAP and it clearly shows. I truly wish Chevy and Ford hadn't left India. I miss my Cruze.

[hajaar]

what I hear from this story is one of reckless driving. Any car worth its salt will keep its occupants safe to a certain extent, but not from the poor judgement of its driver.

[true_sedan]

Glad to hear you’re doing ok. The issue of barricades is a rampant one in Tamil Nadu. Add slow moving vehicles in the right most lanes, two wheelers in all lanes, cows, dogs and bad drivers with no common sense it becomes a deadly mix.

[PreludeSH]

Glad you are safe in a safer car. I understand you have to overtake from left sometimes. But even then always maintain a longer distance from the vehicle at front. Most people are very close to the vehicle they want to overtake and even in our multi lane roads, you can expect someone to be driving on wrong side.

Even if you were overtaking from right and the guy moves suddenly to your right lane you are still in danger.

[spoth001]

Its just not you who you are putting at risk when you overtake from left. You have your betterhalf on left who is at greatest risk. So be more patient when you drive on Indian roads, meaning you have to wait for the vehicle ahead of you to give way to right. There are ways you can make it work, you will figure out eventually as you age driving. Stay safe and drive safe.

[puntra800]

Originally Posted by nikusebu

Completely agree with you on that of not overtaking from the left. But there are certain senseless people, in spite of honking, passing lights and tailing them for long they never make or give way. And then your left with the option of overtaking them from the left.

The very first advice my Dad gave me when I started driving ,nothing wrong in reaching your destination 10 minutes late or an hour late as well. These days we need to take care of our mistakes as well anticipate others mistakes. Its easy to give suggestions if we are not the ones that are impacted but at the same time its always important to keep safety as a priority especially on the roads.

[Newtown]

Originally Posted by SILVER-ARROW

Never ever overtake from the left whatever be the situation. Allow the vehicle in front to give you way to overtake from right.

We can keep debating this till kingdom come. While this is absolutely correct, the real world is very different. And I am sure everyone knows this.

What prompted me to reiterate what I am about to say was my 350 km trip yesterday. On all steep ascends, trucks were just crawling in the right lane. Some of them in parallel with equally slower trucks in the middle lane. There is just no choice but to use the leftmost lane to get ahead and not cause a pile up behind you.

I sympathize with the truckers as well. Trucks are mostly overloaded, and their vehicles are in terrible condition. Many of them don't even have the load secured properly. With a shifting load it would be really terrible for them to drive as it is.

I also happened to pass by the location where the unfortunate crash of Mr. Cyrus Mistry took place. While they have put up some painted signs, the actual road is still the same - A little broken, not flat, stones and pebbles on the side and absolutely nothing done to change the flow of the road.

Without the help of a stronger rule structure and enforcement of the same in multiple areas, I am afraid this will continue to be the situation. Overtaking will happen from the left when there is no choice. It is what it is.