Careless tempo driver cuts into my lane at speed, pays the price for it

When he stopped after we hit him from behind, he mentioned that " I was going to stop on the right side to drink water"

BHPian Rohitthebest recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

If you observe our dash cam video, my wife was doing 100+ kmph coolly on our way to Bangalore from Pune two years back. She even overtook the truck from left side as the guy is driving on extreme right side since it comes in our vision. As she tries to go back to extreme right lane which is supposed to be the overtaking as well as faster lane, the small carrier on the centre lane decides to take the right lane without indicating or any need to go in that lane.

If you see the highway ahead it is all clear and later on when he stopped after we hit him from behind, he mentioned that " I was going to stop on the right side to drink water". Can you believe that? Right side and not extreme left. We approached the police right one KM ahead and looking at our MH12 Number he asked us to go on with our journey without filing complaint as we won't be able to attend the enquiry / court going ons in case it goes ahead. I too realised that I believe the cops with harass him for quick buck than actually doing anything about it.

Lesson learnt: Always analyse the intention of the vehicle moving ahead of you to know in which direction they can move in the Free Highway World of ours and move accordingly.

Here's what BHPian deathwalkr had to say on the matter:

The response by the mini truck fellow should be engraved and framed in the hall of "Top nonsense thoughts/actions on road"!!!

That said, just curious as to why no brake was applied and car didn't seem to slow down either till point of impact.

Also just thinking aloud, after one overtaking on the left (thanks to lumbering behemoth on right), swerving onto right lane to overtake the mini truck on the middle lane seemed a bit circuit race style to me

Again, just thinking aloud is all.

Glad nothing untoward happened and guess the behemoth you overtook had enough time and space to brake and slow down after your accident.

Here's what BHPian poised2drive had to say on the matter:

I am afraid a part of it was your wife's "Galti" too .

Regardless of that driver's careless veering to the right, continuing to be at 100 + kmph as you were approaching that vehicle (which never left the right most lane completely) was a judgmental error! Also I think she honked a bit a late to make that fellow realize the gravity of the situation!

You should have slowed down a bit before trying to overtake !

2 sec rule is gold standard especially at that speed!

I am glad everything went okay

Here's what BHPian n_naik had to say on the matter:

I am not defending the tata ace guy here. But the poor guy didnt have your car on his ORVM till he initiated the lane-switching. It was only after he initiated, you guys appeared on his mirror out of the blue. Scary. If i was in his place, i would have made the car guys pay a heavy price.

The only suggestions that i have for both the vehicles is:

For tata ACE:

1) Keep an eye on IRVM too if possible. Cars disappearing suddenly on one mirror and appearing on the other at high speeds are always riskier.

For car :

1) Always make sure that you stay on the front vehicle's ORVM for few seconds before overtaking them from any side.

2) Before initiating the overtaking, make sure that the front vehicle driver has seen you in the ORVM. This can be done by honking or flashing. But if you have followed the first step properly, you dont need this step since the driver would have seen you already before initiating the lane-switching.

In other words, 'Be predictable' for the driver in front of you.

Wishing you guys safe driving.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.