Be careful when driving from Kannur to Kozhikode (Calicut)

iWonder · 23rd September 2008, 21:52

Thought of warning all of you guys who might go through this route. I know its something that might be fixed in few days time but I've been travelling through this route for 4 years now and did not see any change .

Well, I was driving back from Kannur to Kozhikode at 10pm doing at about 70-80kmph day before yesterday. At Kollamchira, a oncoming vehicle (believe it was an HM Ambassador) was overtaking another with high beam lights on. I could not see a thing so I started slowing down but was too late to realize and I had hit the divider there. My car’s front tyre was totally gone and the alloy wheel had broken, The rear tubeless tyre also was punctured but could be fixed by using a tube in it, the front bumper was broken to the left, front under body mud guard was broken. I called the highway police and they sent the Maruti guys to fix the tyres.

In case, any of you drive through this route at night, please be careful at Kollamchira, its around 5 mins from Koyilandy junction when coming from Kozhikode to Kannur. There comes this 1km long unexpected divider.

Kerala Highway Police No. : 9946 50 0107
24Hr Maruti Helpline No. : 9847 00 0000
Maruti Breakdown : 9447 87 4537

I was driving back from Bangalore to Alanallur, Palakkad .

speedzak · 24th September 2008, 04:30

Very famous and notorious!
It has claimed enough vehicles and damaged many human beings. There's a chain of these beautiful creations in this certain parts of NH17. Very sad that it's not yet buried in the tarring ceremonies which happens almost once every 2 years. Some years before, these were more cruel by being quiet high above the road enough to damage many gearboxes and oil sumps. Now, the tarmac level has decreased that.

Annoying is when you get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle in these sections. You won't be able to overtake them until these so called medians are over.

srijit · 24th September 2008, 08:44

Glad to hear that you are OK

Sorry to hear about your vehicle though.
EDIT: saw the map pic. Nice

Now I have to look into MS Virtual Earth...

kutlee · 24th September 2008, 09:07

that's bad. i guess the govt should pay the tax back if they can't maintain the roads for such damages.

varunlaxman · 24th September 2008, 10:10

Driving From Calicut to Kannur is seriously a risky affair , The Dividers,Crazy Pedestrians,Mad Auto Rickshaw Drivers,Ohh and not to mention the Grandprix between the private buses..!.! Wish the Highway authorities looks it to this matter and do the necessary at the earliest.!.!

24th September 2008, 10:11

thats stretch is always dangerous. sorry to hear about the damage.
I used to do this route quite frequently till a few years back and those medians would give me nightmares, even during the daytime.

inspite of knowing where they were after 2 or 3 trips, I've had countless near misses.

completely callous attitude by the kerala govt. what else can we expect?

iWonder · 24th September 2008, 12:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by srijit

Glad to hear that you are OK

Sorry to hear about your vehicle though.
EDIT: saw the map pic. Nice

Now I have to look into MS Virtual Earth...

Wow, your active here too

?
The MS Virtual Earth is pretty interesting way to find roads and estimate distance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by varunlaxman

Driving From Calicut to Kannur is seriously a risky affair , The Dividers,Crazy Pedestrians,Mad Auto Rickshaw Drivers,Ohh and not to mention the Grandprix between the private buses..!.! Wish the Highway authorities looks it to this matter and do the necessary at the earliest.!.!

One thing about buses in Kerala, never mess with KeralaSRTC (especially southern Kerala) and private buses that might have Kannur/Kozhikode/Thrissur in their destination boards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rippergeo

...inspite of knowing where they were after 2 or 3 trips, I've had countless near misses.

completely callous attitude by the kerala govt. what else can we expect?

I asked the local there and he told me its usual thing there, an accident a day is average.

srijit · 25th September 2008, 14:20

he he, I try to be as active as possible

btw, I like the MS Live Maps ( I usually use Google ), but I have serious doubts about the suggested routes.

Trivandrum - Coimbatore = 4.5hrs???
Trivandrum - Cochin = 128mi (approx 205 kms) and that too via Kottarakara and Kottayam. Dont think I can do those kinds of speeds

EDIT:
MapmyIndia gives me a more realistic estimate of 9+ hours from TVM to Coimbatore
MapmyIndia - TVM to Coimbatore

and TVM to Kochi is 5 hours
MapmyIndia - TVM to Kochi

mansidea · 25th September 2008, 15:25

Regular accident spot & glad that you are safe.

instead of praying for the bureaucracy to change - buy an SUV

ACS · 1st February 2013, 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by varunlaxman

Driving From Calicut to Kannur is seriously a risky affair , The Dividers,Crazy Pedestrians,Mad Auto Rickshaw Drivers,Ohh and not to mention the Grandprix between the private buses..!.! Wish the Highway authorities looks it to this matter and do the necessary at the earliest.!.!

Truly said Varun! Even though this thread might be inactive and I should emphasize the rash driving of the private buses between Kannur and Calicut. The roads are fine now but lack of width in some areas draws threats. Unpopular or non existent parallel roads makes this route busy in day times. I would prefer early mornings to travel.

Sorcererenator · 11th February 2018, 18:39

hey guys, i am driving from Kannur to Calicut next week and plan a stop over at the Arts and Crafts village. We are 5 cars and photo enthusiasts and we have to reach Calicut airport by 1PM. Are the roads as bad? DO you think 4 hrs is good enough with 1.5 hrs stop at the Crafts village. Please advise. Thanks.

knightrider_7 · 11th February 2018, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sorcererenator

hey guys, i am driving from Kannur to Calicut next week and plan a stop over at the Arts and Crafts village. We are 5 cars and photo enthusiasts and we have to reach Calicut airport by 1PM. Are the roads as bad? DO you think 4 hrs is good enough with 1.5 hrs stop at the Crafts village. Please advise. Thanks.

Roads are good throughout. If traffic is moderate, you could reach Calicut city in 2-2.5 hours. Add about one hour to reach airport from there.

ontheroad · 11th February 2018, 20:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sorcererenator

hey guys, i am driving from Kannur to Calicut next week and plan a stop over at the Arts and Crafts village. We are 5 cars and photo enthusiasts and we have to reach Calicut airport by 1PM. Are the roads as bad? DO you think 4 hrs is good enough with 1.5 hrs stop at the Crafts village. Please advise. Thanks.

You may need 4 hours to cover the distance. The entire stretch is 2 lane and expect traffic blocks due to temple festivals. I drove from Kollam to Trivandrum now, and it took 2.5 hrs to cover about 65kms due to temple festival in two spots. Watch out for that aggressive private buses.

GeneralJazz · 11th February 2018, 23:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sorcererenator

hey guys, i am driving from Kannur to Calicut next week and plan a stop over at the Arts and Crafts village. We are 5 cars and photo enthusiasts and we have to reach Calicut airport by 1PM. Are the roads as bad? DO you think 4 hrs is good enough with 1.5 hrs stop at the Crafts village. Please advise. Thanks.

If you are traveling on a weekend, NO. There is always a huge jam in front of the Arts village. We always take the Kizhur-Thakkali Mukku-Meppayil route to avoid this jam. But since you want to visit the place, add 1.5 hrs to your estimate. But again, this all varies from day to day.

govigov · 11th February 2018, 23:38

Yes, mid Jan to mid Feb is festival season. To the second OP, maybe you can factor in an additional hour to your trip just in case to reach calicut airport comfortably.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheroad

You may need 4 hours to cover the distance. The entire stretch is 2 lane and expect traffic blocks due to temple festivals. I drove from Kollam to Trivandrum now, and it took 2.5 hrs to cover about 65kms due to temple festival in two spots. Watch out for that aggressive private buses.

Out of curiosity as I am doing kollam-trivandrum tomorrow, can you tell me which temples are having the festivals?

23rd September 2008, 21:52	#1
iWonder BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: PKD CBE BLR Posts: 30 Thanked: 7 Times View My Garage	Be careful when driving from Kannur to Kozhikode (Calicut) Thought of warning all of you guys who might go through this route. I know its something that might be fixed in few days time but I've been travelling through this route for 4 years now and did not see any change . Well, I was driving back from Kannur to Kozhikode at 10pm doing at about 70-80kmph day before yesterday. At Kollamchira, a oncoming vehicle (believe it was an HM Ambassador) was overtaking another with high beam lights on. I could not see a thing so I started slowing down but was too late to realize and I had hit the divider there. My car’s front tyre was totally gone and the alloy wheel had broken, The rear tubeless tyre also was punctured but could be fixed by using a tube in it, the front bumper was broken to the left, front under body mud guard was broken. I called the highway police and they sent the Maruti guys to fix the tyres. In case, any of you drive through this route at night, please be careful at Kollamchira, its around 5 mins from Koyilandy junction when coming from Kozhikode to Kannur. There comes this 1km long unexpected divider. Kerala Highway Police No. : 9946 50 0107 24Hr Maruti Helpline No. : 9847 00 0000 Maruti Breakdown : 9447 87 4537 I was driving back from Bangalore to Alanallur, Palakkad .
	(4) Thanks

24th September 2008, 04:30	#2
speedzak BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: India Posts: 4,347 Thanked: 27 Times	Very famous and notorious! It has claimed enough vehicles and damaged many human beings. There's a chain of these beautiful creations in this certain parts of NH17. Very sad that it's not yet buried in the tarring ceremonies which happens almost once every 2 years. Some years before, these were more cruel by being quiet high above the road enough to damage many gearboxes and oil sumps. Now, the tarmac level has decreased that. Annoying is when you get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle in these sections. You won't be able to overtake them until these so called medians are over.
	() Thanks

24th September 2008, 08:44	#3
srijit BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 598 Thanked: 8 Times	Glad to hear that you are OK Sorry to hear about your vehicle though. EDIT: saw the map pic. Nice Now I have to look into MS Virtual Earth... Last edited by srijit : 24th September 2008 at 08:46.
	() Thanks

24th September 2008, 09:07	#4
kutlee Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 1,141 Thanked: 232 Times View My Garage	that's bad. i guess the govt should pay the tax back if they can't maintain the roads for such damages.
	() Thanks

24th September 2008, 10:10	#5
varunlaxman BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Kannur,Kerala Posts: 52 Thanked: 8 Times	Driving From Calicut to Kannur is seriously a risky affair , The Dividers,Crazy Pedestrians,Mad Auto Rickshaw Drivers,Ohh and not to mention the Grandprix between the private buses..!.! Wish the Highway authorities looks it to this matter and do the necessary at the earliest.!.!
	() Thanks

24th September 2008, 10:11	#6
rippergeo Posts: n/a	thats stretch is always dangerous. sorry to hear about the damage. I used to do this route quite frequently till a few years back and those medians would give me nightmares, even during the daytime. inspite of knowing where they were after 2 or 3 trips, I've had countless near misses. completely callous attitude by the kerala govt. what else can we expect?
	() Thanks

25th September 2008, 14:20	#8
srijit BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 598 Thanked: 8 Times	he he, I try to be as active as possible btw, I like the MS Live Maps ( I usually use Google ), but I have serious doubts about the suggested routes. Trivandrum - Coimbatore = 4.5hrs??? Trivandrum - Cochin = 128mi (approx 205 kms) and that too via Kottarakara and Kottayam. Dont think I can do those kinds of speeds EDIT: MapmyIndia gives me a more realistic estimate of 9+ hours from TVM to Coimbatore MapmyIndia - TVM to Coimbatore and TVM to Kochi is 5 hours MapmyIndia - TVM to Kochi Last edited by srijit : 25th September 2008 at 14:30.
	() Thanks

25th September 2008, 15:25	#9
mansidea BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 238 Thanked: 4 Times View My Garage	Regular accident spot & glad that you are safe. instead of praying for the bureaucracy to change - buy an SUV
	() Thanks

11th February 2018, 18:39	#11
Sorcererenator BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Noida/ Delhi Posts: 89 Thanked: 3 Times	Re: Be careful when driving from Kannur to Kozhikode (Calicut) hey guys, i am driving from Kannur to Calicut next week and plan a stop over at the Arts and Crafts village. We are 5 cars and photo enthusiasts and we have to reach Calicut airport by 1PM. Are the roads as bad? DO you think 4 hrs is good enough with 1.5 hrs stop at the Crafts village. Please advise. Thanks.
	() Thanks