[shankar.balan]

our society is a pretty sick one if we devalue human lives so badly

to make that evil lorry driver pay for this is hardly the issue

the main thing is that fundamentally something is going very very wrong with our Indian society.

[mobike008]

Absolutely shocking and RIP to souls who passed away.

This type of an incident is becoming increasingly common wherein a runaway vehicle crushes a few people to death before coming to a standstill. Its obvious the driver is drunk beyond is senses in most cases,

This issue is quite serious and it has come from within of every individual.

If you drink, do not drive. If its absolutely necessary for you drive, then do not cross 30kmph or something like that atleast.

Its a vicious circle, unless everyone takes responsibility, I do not have any hope of such incidents ceasing anytime in future.

[rrahul_2778]

@Naveen - Hats off to you. You tried your best. Hope you get the bad memories off your head soon. RIP the souls who lost their lives.

Yeah 108 is the number to call for in emergencies. They have a quick service and they can speak English .

Some 3 yrs ago, I was leaving my office in Hyderabad at 3 AM and saw this gruesome scene in front of me, 2 guys on a scooter hit head on by a truck. These guys were riding in front of me and the road has no street lights. I was the only person on that lonely patch of road and I stopped and called 108. Since there were no streetlights I couldnt make much of the survivors, my hero honda headlights werent great either. But there was no movement or sound, so I had to assume these guys were knocked unconscious or lost their lives. The trucker was no where to be seen, maybe he would have run away. The operator at 108 took some details as to what road, my name, number etc and assured me an ambulance will come in 20 mins. And Yes, it came in under 20 mins. Unfortunately, the guys were dead and I waited till the doc confirmed this.

But the bad memories remain. And yes, it was this incident that scared the **** out of the speed demon inside me. I became a pretty sensible driver after this and I ride my bike in a decent speed limit.

Originally Posted by aargee

108 used to work on the process of call centre & one of the initiator being from Satyam computers. Not sure how much effective it is now after the scam & GVK taking over.

OT - @aargee, its Mahindra taking over Satyam. The company is now Mahindra Satyam.

[asdon]

108 is the number, these days 100 does not work, 108 will bring ambulance and reach to the nearest Govt Hopital, if any thing happenes on Hosur road(between Silk Board and E-city), there are 3 emergency vehcles at toll entry point, from BETL,I will try to get their number and post, they have quick response team 24/7.

[bbkp]

108 works - but not all over India - Forget Rural India, not all cities have it. Hyderabad is an exception really for it is the medical capital of India - Numerous hospitals and medical services. It is also the capital when it comes to pharma and bio-medical industry. The only other city where I have seen 108 working effectively is in Ahmedabad.

Emergency services are extremely poor in our country - What saves the day is the people at the site of the incident. If you are lucky and have some spirited citizens around you, even 26th July like situation can be handled. On the other hand, if you have some crooked politicians around you, then you are really unlucky and end up having Tirunelveli kind of Incidents. To top it up, you have people like Ramgopal Verma who are more than willing to make a movie out of these horrific acts.

Really appreciate Naveen for your efforts - It is efforts like these that really show how big a heart one has.

[bbkp]

Originally Posted by mobike008

If you drink, do not drive. If its absolutely necessary for you drive, then do not cross 30kmph or something like that atleast.

30 Kmph on the speedo of a truck in the hands of a drunken driver is an unguided weapon for mass destruction according to me. To me the definition of drinking is - Drink only when there is nothing to do for the next 12 hours atleast.

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by bbkp

108 works - but not all over India - Forget Rural India, not all cities have it. Hyderabad is an exception really for it is the medical capital of India - Numerous hospitals and medical services. It is also the capital when it comes to pharma and bio-medical industry. The only other city where I have seen 108 working effectively is in Ahmedabad.

I don't think so. It works fine even in Coimbatore. I have seen these 108 ambulances running around even in Chennai and Bangalore. They work.

[rrahul_2778]

Originally Posted by bbkp

108 works - but not all over India - Forget Rural India, not all cities have it. Hyderabad is an exception really for it is the medical capital of India - Numerous hospitals and medical services.

108 is pretty effective in Chennai too.

OT again - I find better medical facilities in Chennai and Bangalore compared to Hyd (having lived in all 3 cities).

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

But whats worst is that no one had called the ambulance or the cops. I quickly took out my mobile and tried calling all the emergency numbers I had - 1064, 100, 1061, 28230700 and 105711. NONE of these numbers worked and did not even go through! There was not even a ring going through. In my shocked state, I could only keep re-trying the numbers and lost all hope when no rings went through!!

When calling from mobile phone, aren't we supposed to prefix the STD code before this number ?

For example - for calling 1061 in Bangalore, we should type +91801061.

I am not 100% sure about this, I may be wrong.

Rohan

[bbkp]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

I don't think so. It works fine even in Coimbatore. I have seen these 108 ambulances running around even in Chennai and Bangalore. They work.

Originally Posted by rrahul_2778

108 is pretty effective in Chennai too.

OT again - I find better medical facilities in Chennai and Bangalore compared to Hyd (having lived in all 3 cities).

Sincerely hate the facilities in Chennai - This has accounted for my cousin's husband and it wasn't even such a major emergency - Will choose death over visiting this one city for medical purposes - such was the experience.

Opinions and experiences may differ. Let me leave it at that.

We get a 24 hour breakdown service for the cars wherein mobile service vans come up and fix the cars. They also provide a first aid kit which is more a joke really - Cannot the car companies or the dealers just compile the list of all emergency medical services, hospitals equipped with casuality wards across India with address and contact details and just add it to the list of ducuments that we carry - Atleast, one wouldn't have to waste precious time in enquiring about the nearby hospital.

[naveenroy]

@ shankar.balan - So true. We hardly seem to value a human life. Its all a bloody statistic.

@ rrahul_2778 - thanks man! Yeah, incidents like this bring things back into perspective.

@ bbkp - absolutely man! No drinking when driving or drving when drinking. No breaking that rule!

@ rohan_iitr - yeah, you have to prefix the STD code for these numbers and I did. No offense taken.

And bbkp, you last post sounds like a good idea. I am sure someone out there has compiled such a list.

And The Hindu has reported today that 3 people were killed at that spot. But the TOI reports that 2 people were killed - a man and woman and the third person is being treated at a hospital. Hope the second news is accurate - atleast one life is saved.

[kittigadu]

A few years ago i met with a minor accident on road and have seen scores of people meeting the same fate day in and day out.

Later, i have talked to a lot of people including kids and police on this and put together what they said in a small video.

Click here

to view the video. Unfortunately it has no subtitles.

Regards,
Krishna.

[vinaydas]

first of all ,this is where speed limiters are absolutely needed.
All yellowboard vehicles in Karnataka Had to get limiters on , but people made a huge fuss about it and dint get it done.

Secondly
The General Public are nothing short of wild animals. They get kicks out of incidents like this and the people involved in such brutal activities go home feeling good about what they did.

I have noticed 'n' number of times. In an accident,people care less about the injured and more about the situation. By standers try to heat up the situation by adding their personal touches example "I saw that guy speeding,he was driving very fast , these cars/bikes do not suit Indian roads etc". I have given a piece of my mind to such fellows on more than one occasion.

Best Thing to do in such situation is Blindly go the cops/call them. As corrupt as they may be, they know how to diffuse the situation.

[prince_pervez]

Any idea why the trucker went besserk ? Was it some failure with the vehicle or plain nut behind the wheel ?

[aargee]

Originally Posted by rrahul_2778

OT - @aargee, its Mahindra taking over Satyam. The company is now Mahindra Satyam.

You're right that Mahindra took over Satyam, but EMRI by GVK. Here're the sources
1. G.V.K. Reddy to help EMRI, brainchild of Satyam Raju
2. http://www.emri.in/content/view/24/59/