[Turbanator]

From the video, it looks like the Truck kept coming right or even took a sharp right and hit the passing RR, or at least that's what I can make out from the video.

I don't think the speed was anywhere around 200; RR is moving fast but not like 2-3 times the speed of the truck it passed. Even other cars are in the frames immediately.

As mentioned by others, it is a big design fault. That turn on a straight high-speed lane with a limit of 120 or perhaps a higher design limit on such a highway is absolutely criminal. Nowhere in the world can such an exit be legal or allowed. What's worst is there is no shoulder on such a highway.

100% fault in the road design and then of the Truck guy who took a right, most likely even without looking at the view mirror or the car was fast (even at 120) given the stretch, because of the bridge (again, a design issue) he might have failed to notice the car.

RR - The fault seems to be of high speed, and that's about it. This accident is definitely not due to the speed of the RR, in my opinion, and any other passing car at 120 in the exact spot would have had a similar outcome, except that the car occupants would have been dead, and the truck merely turned as it happens mostly.

If the highway has such elaborate video coverage, why cannot they force truckers to stick in the left two lanes mandatorily? There are no 2/3 wheelers, so trucks should not have this excuse of staying away from the left lane. Simply mark No Truck lane, warn them at first Toll, and charge them twice or three times the toll if they are found on the right lanes in the video—easy earning for the highway to recover any manpower costs in monitoring. Someone has to find a way to teach these guys the culture and rules of staying in lane.

Regarding the help, I am sure the highway guys arrived promptly. The rest of the guys in the convoy must have left hurriedly. Such incidents, especially in interiors, can be a big problem to handle. Morally, it is not correct, but practically, it can be a big issue. And we don't know who all stayed behind or everyone left. It would not have made any difference, most likely.

[sirjokhi]

Originally Posted by N.A.GTC

This sense of entitlement plays a huge role in acting the way they do on the roads, and then fleeing the spot without caring about the other injured (now, deceased).

Why so bitter? People in RR were hurt too. What do you expect that with fractures and at that point unknown injuries, they stay there? Obviously anyone would rush to the hospital first. Whether it be a Maruti owner or RR. In our country, it is a belief that rich folks are always wrong. Let's change that. If it's an expensive car it must have been speeding. 12 minutes for 40km? So from the toll itself RR must have been at 200. Or to average it out around 240 generally. Doesn't that seem odd? I feel sorry for the loss of people's lives but a normal check in the mirror would have probably avoided this situation. Yes if they were infact speeding, then that could have been avoided too. But always speculating 200kms plus speed for any crash related to germans is wrong. Let the facts come out. Then we can point fingers.

[fhdowntheline]

Isnt media and everyone else also attracted to this incident because of the "Rolls Royce" badge ? If this were a Maruti Alto which would have probably been completely mangled even at 60 kph, everyone would have paid some commiserations, ranted the usual build quality rants and moved on.

[Beta_Blocker]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

This accident is definitely not due to the speed of the RR, in my opinion, and any other passing car at 120 in the exact spot would have had a similar outcome, except that the car occupants would have been dead, and the truck merely turned as it happens mostly.

Totally agree with this. Given the pace with which the truck changed lanes from left most to right most, It’s almost impossible for any vehicle, that close to truck, in the right most lane to avoid a crash, even if its travelling at the prescribed speed limit-120kmph.

You cross hundreds of trucks while on a highway and one wouldn’t anticipate which truck would suddenly move from one extreme to the other- without bothering to give prior indication or look if someone is very close in the lane we are moving to.

Remember, at 120KMPH, we are travelling 33 metres every second before we decide to hard brake and It takes nearly 55-60m to come to halt on hard braking.

[CarNerd]

I think this is the first accident involving a car and a truck in which the truck occupants have died and car passengers have survived. We don't know the exact speed of the Rolls Royce when it crashed but it did a good job of protecting the passengers before it got burnt completely. Unless we enforce strict lane discipline especially when it comes to truck drivers, such accidents will keep happening. We can't force everyone to do the right thing but we can stop them from doing wrong.

[TROOPER]

Have encountered an exactly similar incident on Mumbai Pune expressway back in May.

It was a dumper which was working on the construction site of the new stretch which would bypass Lonavala completely, abruptly cut into the Mumbai bound side with cars approaching.

There was a gen 3 Dzire ahead of us, and had the guy been a couple of seconds ahead he would have been toast, and there would have definitely been a pile up with us next in line. Literally felt that I should show the dashcam footage to the cops at the next toll, but hey, we know what the outcome would be right? Zero.

We have many such murderers on roads running free. I am using this extreme term because they are completely aware of the consequences and are still grossly negligent. Irrespective of the RR's mistakes, I have zero sympathies for that truck driver. His actions would have killed any normal family driving at 80 in a normal car in that moment.

And I have seen truck drivers pull this exact same stunt a couple of times. One's speed and attention are out of the window variables, because the action is so abrupt, it's only the timing that will save the day for anyone.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I don't think the speed was anywhere around 200; RR is moving fast but not like 2-3 times the speed of the truck it passed.

The RR is going in line with line of sight of the camera whereas the truck moves horizontally at the end. Hence the truck will appear faster. It is an optical illusion.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

RR - The fault seems to be of high speed, and that's about it. This accident is definitely not due to the speed of the RR, in my opinion, and any other passing car at 120 in the exact spot would have had a similar outcome, except that the car occupants would have been dead, and the truck merely turned as it happens mostly.

Disagree such an insane speed is definitely one of the principal contributors of this crash along with the truck driver's action and probably road design. If he was following the speed limit the probability of the RR guy stopping in time would have increases dramatically. Remember twice the speed is four times the kinetic energy hence four times the stopping distance.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Simply mark No Truck lane, warn them at first Toll, and charge them twice or three times the toll if they are found on the right lanes in the video—easy earning for the highway to recover any manpower costs in monitoring. Someone has to find a way to teach these guys the culture and rules of staying in lane.

Also, in addition just automatically cancel the driving license of the guy who does severe violation of the speed limit. Apart from the culture of staying in lanes the culture of remaining within speed limits also has to be enforced. Study after study has found over speeding the leading cause of accidents in India.

[autobahnjpr]

I have covered this highway couple of times and from my experience I can say that it was an accident waiting to happen for the following reasons

1) High Speed = Low reaction time -
This highway has become the de-facto formula-1 track for people. Many car and bike groups regularly do speeding trips on this stretch. With increasing traffic, high speed reduces reaction time exponentially and increases the chances of an accident proportionately.

2) Lane Indiscipline = Trucks on right most lane - 50 percent of truck drivers drive on the right most or on the two right most lanes of the highway at a speed of 40-50 kmph when the others are zooming in 120-140 range. On this four lane highway, the right most lane is for overtaking, the next left one is for cars, then buses and then trucks. But this order is hardly followed. This creates a potent hazard for any mishap. Most of the trucks are overloaded as checking is not yet operational in this section (as per RTO sources).

3)Faulty Design = U-turns opened up on the stretch -
Many places the authorities have opened up u-turns on this stretch. It is a stupid decision and directly contributed to this accident as truck moved to the overtaking lane at a low speed to take a u-turn while the speeding rolls behind it did not get enough time to react. The worst part is there are no signal, signs to indicate that there is a u-turn ahead.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

The RR is going in line with line of sight of the camera whereas the Truck moves horizontally at the end.

No, I was referring to the Truck this car passed before changing lanes to the right. It was trying to overtake the Truck involved in the accident from the right. The more I see, it becomes clear, a sudden right turn by the Truck hitting the RR.

Disagree such an insane speed is dne of the principal contributors of this crash along with the truck driver's action and probably road design

I hope you know how safe Autobahns are and the speed limits. RR was not driving at speed limits, which is, at best, a guess based on the calculated averages. RR just passed a truck and had changed lanes, too, so I doubt the speeds can be anywhere close to being called. Some other cars in their convoy will barely reach 160 and are visible in almost the next few frames.

If he was following the speed limit the probability of the RR guy stopping in time would have increases dramatically.

I doubt anything could have prevented this incident- 120 Kmph is pretty fast vs. something taking such a sharp turn at what - 20-30 Kmph. Usually, the fellas in the car take all the sufferings.

in addition just automatically cancel the driving license of the guy who does severe violation of the speed limit.

I agree with this. Just like overseas beyond a specific limit, immediate suspension of DL and the car to be confiscated. But to start, 3 or 4 times the Toll or penalty at the toll booth while exiting.

Study after study has found over speeding the leading cause of accidents in India.

Yes, poor road design, lack of lane discipline and the variance in speed of different classes of vehicles. We are not allowing larger motorcycles, but are ok with trucks and dumpers on this fast expressway at 60-70Kmph? Why expressway cannot have minimum speed limits? Anything lower than mandatory should be barred. Add speed, and all this becomes a deadly cocktail. I won't agree that speed is the only or primary reason for accidents. There will be other reasons, too, like this Truck in this case.

[Zippy_wheels]

Originally Posted by sirjokhi

12 minutes for 40km? So from the toll itself RR must have been at 200. Or to average it out around 240 generally. Doesn't that seem odd?

I agree something is definitely wrong here. 12 mins/ 40 kms is an average speed of 200. With other vehicles on the road, would any car be able to manage an average of 200? We can also see the convoy is still maintained till this point, so are we saying all the cars in the convoy maintainted an average speed of 200? Is it even possible for harriers and safaries to keep doing and average 200 on regular roads with other indiciplined traffic that we have in india?

[dsr001]

Travelled on this highway again today.

• Twice, trucks were coming on the wrong side (we have pics and videos)

• Trucks are on all lanes

• Coming towards Delhi, there are multiple large road deformities (around Jaipur entry)
• Car drivers are not maintaining sufficient headway at times

[GeeTee TSI]

If the damaged car in question was found to be exceeding the speed limit (by a considerable margin as being assumed) does it give grounds for insurance companies to not process claims?

Reflecting on this incident and some personal observations, lower speeds allow for some probability to recover (read, save) oneself from the stupidity/negligence of others. A state of damage to one's own car and self is already too late to pin point who was at fault (besides pursuing it for justice).

Protect yourselves by looking out for morons and by NEVER exceeding prescribed speed limits (no matter 12 cylinders or wide open roads) This comes from a resigned state of hopelessness that violations will continue to happen with impunity and that 'justice' is not delivered instantly

[WorkingGuru]

Big road design fault, but how many accidents have happened here in the past years ?

To be 40km away from the toll booth within 12 minutes is quite something. The RR wouldn't have been linear at 200kmph, but it would've done some serious speed-bursts in between wherever the driver could manage it.

Nobody can be 100% safe but if UHNI people want to enjoy their machines, they should form a club that uses a SOP to organise empty stretches to experience a well deserved thrill with basic safety. Present day UHNIs are largely mature & will surely manage this IMO.

As for the truckers here, they will likely not be compensated in reality - unless the brands that the RR Owner owns, are made public.

[androdev]

The road design allowing a U-turn and the truck driver taking a sudden U-turn have a much bigger role in this accident than the speed of RR. However, it doesn't do anybody any good knowing whom to blame after the fact.

Flawed road designs and drivers lacking discipline are so common that someone driving an RR is expected to have some level of situational awareness. I can't say this accident could have been avoided but the severity of the accident is certainly the fault of RR driver. A good driver is very less likely to t-bone or rear-end another vehicle.

I don't have experience in the RR territory but most European sedans with 3.0L engines can cruise at 160kmph very effortlessly - you won't realise the speeds you are doing unless you look at the speedo. I often joke with my passengers that every truck we pass safely is a potential accident avoided. While it's impossible to be defensive about every truck that you pass, you can certainly be defensive enough to avoid "Final destination" type of accidents such as this.

When it come to trucks, I follow these rules (might be obvious to many of you):

1. Large trucks block a lot of the road from your vision. Scan the road several meters before overtaking a truck - there might be other vehicles from other lanes trying to overtake or cross the road. These other vehicles have the potential to suddenly show up in your lane once you pass the truck giving you no time to react.

2. Try to guess what's ahead of the truck in front of you. Long shadows during the day and headlight throw during the night offer great clues about what's ahead of the truck. If you see another shadow ahead of the truck, there is a good possibility that the truck might change lanes. With experience, you would be able to predict when a truck is likely to change lanes.

3. Use extra caution with dumper/tipper trucks - they are fast, very agile and usually driven very rashly - making them very unpredictable for their size. Avoid proximity to them - save yourself from those nasty stone chips.

4. If you notice increase in two wheeler traffic, that means are you near a town and the chances of encountering trucks, tractors, etc (sometimes in the opposite direction) are high. The mindset of the local drivers within town premises is very different from long distance touring drivers that are passing through. The former follow no rules and will go to any length just to cut down the distance and time they have to travel.

5. Automatic muscle memory to slow down when you can't see what's ahead - curve in the road, uphill road, slow moving trucks occupying multiple lanes, etc.

6. Spotting potential problematic zones to slow down: trucks parked by the road side (rest area?), multiple sign boards on the median, blinking traffic lights, etc.

7. Use the horn or headlight flashing to alert the truck drivers about your intentions to pass during tricky situations. Be judicious with headlight flashing - it's a royal pain for the drivers ahead.

8. Don't expect other driver to slow down to help you pass. You are putting your life in the hands of someone else. Never do that.

If you can afford it, buy a car with more power for your highway needs - you will be under a lot less pressure to maintain speed when it's not appropriate. You will feel no need to be adventurous in difficult situations and can afford to wait patiently for everything to clear up and then take off to regain your pole position.

[VSD]

I have been very frequent on this highway from past 3-4 months. I make about two trips every month to Rajasthan and have driven this stretch in all conditions like rains, day & night time, weekends etc, except fog (which I'll encounter soon enough). The highway is not the safest and a lot of cost-cutting has been done to have it up and running asap rather than keeping public safety in mind. At night there are no street lights or even proper signage to ensure people know what is coming ahead.

Coming to the accident, I feel BOTH parties are at fault here.

1. The RR is going fast and like most cars on this road probably exceeding 120kmph limit. I feel it could be exceeding 150 as that's generally what I've seen cars do as they would blast past me while I'm set on 120 on cruise control and catching up on my podcasts.
RR had to overtake from the left (as most of us do/have to) of the big truck in Lane 2 which would give the driver a good view out front and make the pass more comfortably and then probably switch back to the fast lane and carry on.

2. The U-turn - This turn is not allowed for any passenger vehicle or truck for that matter, it's only there for emergency/NHAI vehicles who can use them to reach wherever they're needed rather than travelling 20-30kms to the next possible U-turn. These turn have been blocked with heavy concrete dividers placed in zig zag format painted in yellow and black colors and have small signs displaying NO U-TURN.

3. The Diesel tanker wanted to take this short-cut from Lane 3 and had started to make it's turn thinking he could pass before the truck in Lane 2 reaches closer. The RR had ventured into Lane 3 to make it's overtake coming out from behind the truck and is highly possible that the tanker didn't spot it at first before he decided to make his turn.

They both couldn't back out of this as the rolls was going too fast and the tanker had already decided to make the illegal u-turn. They made contact in between Lane 2 and Lane 1 where the rolls was trying to avoid the impact while moving into the overtake lane. The car hit the trucks front axle which had separated from the body above and flew away in the distance. The cabin of the tanker takes the maximum hit and the tanker toppled over. The RR loses control and spins over into the center green belt taking heavy impact of near stationary object.

Even at 120kmph, this accident couldn't have been avoided be it a rolls or any other car for that matter. If he were any slower he could've managed to brake, but I highly doubt he had enough time to do that at any speed. They are alive today because they were in a car built like a tank and didn't crush even after such an impact.

The tanker driver and helper could be alive today if they had any seat-belts on. They died as they were thrown out of the cabin rather than the impact itself.

This is just my take on this accident, I'm no expert. Just my viewpoint as most of my driving is on the highways and encountering many such accidents or close calls.