[d_himan]

I thought it'd be a drabby Monday morning drive to office - there was a fat chap in a Bullet in front of me. I was cruising along in 60kmph in 5th gear with the engine purring away. Was listening to the radio.

There was this signal at a minor intersection - it was indicating green for straight and right. I was around 100mtrs away. The Bullet in front of me was ploughing on. The signal turned orange just as I was 20 mtrs away - could make it through comfortably, or so I thought. The Bulleteeer skidded and suddenly veered left, and there was this cyclist about to take a right turn bang in front me. I tried my best to avoid him - but there was this heart-stopping BANG - he hit the front left side of my car. I slammed the brakes, stopped in the middle of the signal and was furious.

The damage was slight - a small, deep dent in the middle of the front left door and some paint scrapped off the bumper. The cost of repair even at the authorized showroom wouldn't cross 3k and wouldn't be worth claiming insurance and losing NCB.

The guy however, had a lower back pain and couldn't stand. took him to a hospital, paid 5 k for his scanning etc (incidentally, there was nothing). Thank goodness he didn't land on his head - I would've died of guilt.

Lessons Learnt?

1. Put in a new horn in the Swift and HONK MORE (I hate Honking)
2. ALWAYS slow down when you see a Yellow, however tempting it might be to catch the signal.

[gd1418]

A pair of Stebel Nautiluses would be just fine...

Originally Posted by d_himan

Lessons Learnt?

1. Put in a new horn in the Swift and HONK MORE (I hate Honking)
2. ALWAYS slow down when you see a Yellow, however tempting it might be to catch the signal.

[n_aditya]

I would say point#2 is a better choice than point #1. Never rush through a signal however tempting it may be. Some start a few seconds before it turns green due to sheer impatience.... this could be disastrous.

Anticipate any thing that could come in your way (or your car) so that corrective measures can be taken resulting in minimal or no risk to others and yourself.

Do note that some are eternally deaf and the loudest of horns have no effect on them. You will only end up creating more noise pollution.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by d_himan

The guy however, had a lower back pain and couldn't stand. took him to a hospital, paid 5 k for his scanning etc (incidentally, there was nothing). Thank goodness he didn't land on his head - I would've died of guilt.

You did great.
May everyone have the courage and willpower to do the right thing and India will be a great place to live and drive...

Cheers,

[svsantosh]

d_himan ,I Guess you did the right thing. Forget the small Dent, go ahead and get it fixed. Thank God you did not land in a bigger mess!

[Mission_Safari]

Well done. Just wanted to know couple of things , where did this happen(just to be more watchful when i go past that area) and were you persuaded to take him to hospital or you took him voluntarily.

I too had a small dent in the front when trying to go past a amber signal. The lancer who was cruising at a relatively good speed hit a sudden brake infront of me and i banged. We both stopped after the signal to talk about it but left without a word as both were at fault. This happened at the Lakshman Shruthi signal (signal after Vadapalani).

[diffsoft]

d_himan:

I think you did your best! It was great of you to have taken him to the hospital and get him scanned at your charge.

I am not sure honking withmore decibels is the solution - just adds to noise pollution. I just have come to the conclusion that it is "karma" 3 out of 4 damages to my car have been out of my control - like yours.

[finneyp]

Crossing at amber signal lights is quite tricky!

Whenever I come across such situations, I have a glance at my Rear view mirror to see if any vehicle is rushing to cross the signal, if so, I also pass through the signal, but if no vehicles in near sight, I come to a halt.

[pjbiju]

Thank God you are safe and the cyclist was safe too.

I always try to slow down while approaching a signal even if the signal is green. This gives you enough room to come to a stop when the signal turns amber. Again in Pune, People with red signal start moving as soon as their count down reaches 5 (when green turns amber for another side). So trying to rush through when the signal is amber is a sureshot way into crash into someone. And I have actually seen cops pulling up people who passed through the amber light only because those with red (count down @ 5) had already started moving.

[esteem_lover]

Good on you himan. Just the sort of thing every motorist avoids (i meant taking the cyclist to the hospital etc). Yeah, you learnt your lesson, so alls well that ends well.Is this the Anna Arch signal ?

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by d_himan

2. ALWAYS slow down when you see a Yellow, however tempting it might be to catch the signal.

Whatever happened to checking for heavily impatient guys behind you?

[kkdelhi]

There are more and more of those time-based signals that have come up in Delhi. The real trouble happens when the timer gets faulty. In one of the signals near my home, the timer goes 5-4-3-2-1-the light turns amber (not red) and then the countdown begins again (5-4-3...) and finally it turns red. So, if you have stopped when the timer first shows 2 (or even 1), you regret not having crossed it because the timer happens to go all over again.

Having said that, the best and the safest thing to do is to stop as soon as you judge a change in signal.

[d_himan]

thanks guys - was musing on phamilyman's thought - thank goodness there wasn't a vehicle behind me. He would've ploughed into the swift's J-Lo rear! There was just no time to look into the rear view mirror. happened in a split second.

esteem-lover: happened on the entrance to the upper canal bank road where the Hindustan Lever and Airtel buildings are..

[MillionSwords]

Damn Cyclists, what ever their fault is, we land up in trouble -the motorists

[HotChillyPepper]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

Thank God you are safe and the cyclist was safe too.

I always try to slow down while approaching a signal even if the signal is green. This gives you enough room to come to a stop when the signal turns amber. Again in Pune, People with red signal start moving as soon as their count down reaches 5 (when green turns amber for another side). So trying to rush through when the signal is amber is a sureshot way into crash into someone. And I have actually seen cops pulling up people who passed through the amber light only because those with red (count down @ 5) had already started moving.

As you said people start moving before the counter reaches "00" is the real problem. As early as the counter approches 10, the trafic behind you start honking as if they gonna die becuz of an heart attack.

If it was just the yellow light available instead of the counter , no one would have tried to jump through at last moment. Because you will never know how much time left for Red to turn Yellow.