[Thad E Ginathom]

Men are lovely, beautiful, essential creatures created by God*. Now, please do not discriminate against men.

*well, some people say so!



Back to serious.... sounding the horn, though essential when it seems another road user is not aware of your presence, never removes the responsibility to avoid the accident. This is something I find very hard to remember, the more used to driving in India I get. I shout about the 2-wheeler (beep, beep beep) overtaking on my left just as I am about to turn left --- and then I shout about the guy who continues to come into my path as I go beep, beep beep.

One should never assume that the obstruction will move, out of the way, or in any given direction, unless there is clear communication between you.

You can sound the horn: what if the guy is deaf? (Actually this one was one my early lessons: one of Thad's Dad's pearls of driving wisdom).

[dadu]

Exactly, where you have undiscpline as the way of life, nothing can work.

You have to be prepared for any unpredictable moves made by the other person and safeguard YOURSELF against them.

That should be the golden rule for driving anywhere in India.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

You can sound the horn: what if the guy is deaf? (Actually this one was one my early lessons: one of Thad's Dad's pearls of driving wisdom).

[manjubp]

In last 4 weeks, I had driven on GQ twice (round trip). Points to note,

1. We are in India, so there are people for whatever the reason, they to croos the roads. So expect the same, it doesn't matter whether it is right or wrong.

2. Driving at 130kmph for an SUV is invited trouble. May be good for D segment cars.

3. Knowing the way we handle emergencies, interms of response time, quality of the response, it wise to take care by all possible means, to avoid the emergencies, atleast on highways.

4. Last, the fact is if you can't break safely in available space, reduce your speed. In this case, as soon as driver saw the Lady, he should have been at a speed, where he should have breaked the SUV without casuing any harm to her or himself.

regards,
-manju

[rks]

Originally Posted by headers

People are the same [read as uneducated, idiotic, stupid, and arrogant, ignorant and what no] in every state in our country and the GQs..

Your dad is right in telling you not to accelarate..experience speaks

Yes, my father used to drive extensively in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu (then Madras) sector and when I was young I used to tag along with him mainly to get an opportunity to drive on the highway. When I made that observation, I did not intend to imply that *only* Tamil Nadu was like that. It was just an observation based on my experience.

I have seen many instances where the village women cross first and then think later, with panic inevitably setting in. Several changes of mind occur, and one just cannot predict which direction they will ultimately take.

[hollywoodhogan]

pretty horrific experience. i happend to witness a similar one a few of years back but fortunately the ghastly memories are fading.

about stupid village women crossing expressways, i have this to say....

she was born probably near to a road where perhaps 10 trucks or buses would pass by in a whole day at 30 kmph. 20 years later it became a few cars and a few buses and a few more trucks passing by at about 50 kmph, the suddenly 2 years back there is a 6 lane big road where vehicles are doing 120 kmph. well now what you get is a perfect receipe for disaster.

and lets not go about blaming the kids and boys because they are brought up by their parents and behave as they see them behave. this is a sad situation in india today.

the best is to drive cautiously despite how luring the straight smooth roads look and focus focus and focus on the road ahead and most importantly expect the unexpected, however stupid it might be.

[jaysmokesleaves]

One of the reasons why drivers in India hit and RUN(somtimes leave the vehicle and run) especially on NH's is that if you stop as a good samaritan to help, you are very likely to be lynched by a mob and your vehicle burnt by bystanders if in and around a village or crowded areas. I have seen it often all across the country. On a personal note, i dont think i will stop too, if i suspect geting lynched.
This however, does not justify rash and irresponsible driving.
The countryside though, in most cases, is a lawless land.
Incredible India.

[manjubp]

I have a confusion.

Does any where it is mentioned that "GQ" Hosur-Chennai is access controlled "freeway"?

Or because of our experince outside India, are we assuming that all toll roads are freeways?

regards,
-manju

[ram_hyundai]

its ok buddie ,such things happen and do what best can be done in such situations.i believe you have done that.but the police guys are so ignorant .once i had passed on an information to the police on the hotline and these guys called back thrice to update the information and also send a message to me congradulating me on the effort taken.these guys have to be more vigilant and quick to respond.
ram

[lancer_rit]

Really bad accident. Pedestrians do have cavalier ways of using the roads in India and many times are to be blamed. Once my friend's esteem got hit from the side by a woman completely covered by the large hay bundle she was carrying on her head. It was difficult to visualize the accident. The woman came and hit the car from the side (driver door). Luckily she was ok, but Esteem (like a true Maruti) got a rather large dent that fouled up the power windows!
But those driving also have much to change. Riding bicycles w/o lights/reflectors at night, driving with high beams, driving in wrong way, not slowing down near villages and towns, going @ speeds way over for vehicle and road conditions (list goes on and on) - all of these create high risk of accidents in India.

Like some others said already, the best you can do is defensive driving. Drive at speeds suitable to road, car, location and surroundings and to your comfort. And do slow down in populated areas (those are no places to zoom at high speeds) And NHAI has to make major improvements to their concept of "safe roads", signs, dividers, crossings et al. Putting up a sign after the bend starts about it, hardly helps anyone - most signs are not 'x' distance before whatever they wish to alert ...
Regards,

[gopinathann]

An accident happened yesterday in Chennai-Bangalore highway. Two of them from Bangalore has travelled to chennai in Honda city to watch India-SA match, and in one junction a bus had turned in from the side. Due to high speed the car collided with the bus. After colliding the car has caught fire, one died at the spot and the other were suffering. They took him to the hospital but could not save him. Very unfortunate for those 2 youngsters, speed kills .

[dadu]

Unfortunate, I read this in the morning paper today and they also mentioned that:

- They covered bangalore-krishnagiri (90 km) in 1 hour, based on the statement by the girl who was saved but is still in hospital.

- The car hit a bus which took onto the wrong side of the lane and was travelling in the opposite direction.

- The bus was pushed back 20m on the impact.

From what I read they were mostly putting emphasis on the speed and rash driving and I want to go and ask them as to what was the bus doing travelling in the wrong lane and opposite to the flow of traffic on the GQ.

Originally Posted by gopinathann

An accident happened yesterday in Chennai-Bangalore highway. Two of them from Bangalore has travelled to chennai in Honda city to watch India-SA match, and in one junction a bus had turned in from the side. Due to high speed the car collided with the bus. After colliding the car has caught fire, one died at the spot and the other were suffering. They took him to the hospital but could not save him. Very unfortunate for those 2 youngsters, speed kills .

[benbsb29]

I read about the incident in the newspaper.
I am surprised why no one has mentioned anything about taking the bus driver to task, travelling on the wrong side of the road, on a highway. Imbeciles !!

[adc]

The picture is gruesome to say the least. Trucks, busses, cars, motorcycles on the opposite side of a highway is so much becoming common nowadays - and with no highway police, it is becoming the norm to take the sameway shortcut rather than a turn at the median divider.

[mjothi]

I was disturbed a lot after reading this in newspaper. Now, seeing this pic, man it too difficult to digest. Let their soul rest in peace.
But wondering how this could happen
-impact was so much that Bus went back like 20m???
-The car looks like a open chasis???

Just a week back we had similar incident on swift. Now, Honda city. So, guys it does not matter if you have ABS, Airbag etc... Just make sure you are within your control. Because, eventhough its clearly a BIG mistake from the Bus guy who came in wrong direction, we wont be in this world to argue on that. Its our life. Lets take this deep in our thought before sitting behind the wheel.

Though the picture is disturbing, i am not sure if it has to be removed. Truth is always bitter. This is something like what Dr.AnbuMani (health minister) trying to put pictures on the cigar packets...

[eclectix 1st]

Points to note

1. The bus Should not have entered the road in the first place. The authorities should have some measures to avoid that from happening.
2. GQ, four lanes, mistake of the bus etc... all said and done the onus is on the driver of the car to do a decent speed, to avoid exactly these kind of incidents. Unless you know the road inside out, its a mistake to do high speeds on Indian roads.
3. How many of us have not encountered these kind of incidents on (supposed to be) good roads?. We have to presume, there is always a goat, cow, old woman, TVS moped, Tractor, bicycle etc that is waiting to enter the road around the next corner.

RIP