Sent flying off my new scooter after an Indica hits me at a junction

I was returning from a friend's house on my newly purchased electric scooter, and was to take a right towards a bus lane to my house.

BHPian shresan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

All i remember is flashes of a hit and flying. It is traumatic and fresh. Just a week old.

I had my helmet on. That was what actually saved me from serious damage.

So what really happened? Its all a daze as far as i can remember. I will lead you up to it and lead you out of it, you have to figure out what happened in the interim.

I was returning from a friend's house on my newly purchased electric scooter, and was to take a right towards a bus lane to my house. I approached the junction and slowed down. I acknowledged an Indica come to a near stop at the junction, seeming as if he was letting me and one more Dio rider pass. As soon as I was in the middle of the oncoming lane, he accelerated hard and hit me.

The next thing I know, I was flying. Consequently, I was on the floor with onlookers trying to help me up. I felt my ribs being choked as I gasped for air. I looked at myself, pulled my t-shirt up and checked for inflammations or bleeding. There were none. All the injuries were internal.

The traffic police came around and stopped the Indica driver. She was saying that it was my fault as i had attempted to turn right into a lane that was "legally one way but socially two way" lane. The intriguing part of all that was the fact that i've been in that locality for 18 years and there is no sign of such things. Even bizarre stuff is that buses go in and out of the road. When i pointed that out, she seemed flustered, frowned and said, "Only buses are allowed like that. Civilian vehicles aren't."

After such irritating arguments i decided to let her go. She almost tried to convince me that a no u turn board also signifies no right turn.

Anyway, what happened was that seemingly, the driver's leg slipped from the clutch and when the vehicle jerked forward, he, instead of pressing the brake and clutch, pressed the accelerator. Or so he told.

I was perturbed as to the validity of the statement.

Somehow, i was sent flying. About 12 feet or so in length and landed flush on my back. The vehicle is damaged a bit, with a stuck accelerator and out of place fittings, etc. I am yet to check with the company. I let the driver go (he was a taxi driver) without any compensation or so.

Got diagnosed with several blood clots in my chest and some injury in my shoulder, but pretty much mobile and safe as of now. No serious problems.

So yeah, please look out for people like this on the road and please do stop at junctions before proceeding, even if it is empty.

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

Glad you are okay. Though it was not your fault, I am writing the following as a general safety concern. I am not implying that you had done something wrong:

• Be on your safe side, always. Life once gone is gone. No amount of argument about who was right and wrong will bring you back.
• Never should we be in a hurry on the road. even if we are in a hurry. So that we need to take minimum number of split second decisions.
• Should not make a move until we have understood the other driver/rider's motive. This judgement comes with experience, but anyhow it is always better to be safe than sorry.
• Honking is important in India. Always better to let the fellow drivers aware of your intentions.
• Indian driving conditions are chaotic. Always important to keep your calm, and be 100% focused. A senior driver once told me, do not bring your stress and tensions to the road unless you want a mishap.
• All these points will apply more on a two wheeler. Split second decisions may injure a rider, but a person in a car may remain safe.

Happy motoring!

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

It looks like a classic pressing the wrong pedal to me as you mentioned the car almost came to stop or it could be he was using mobile! But to me, the first one is the more likely. Unfortunate and thank God and move on. Make sure please you review about your health few times (some 2nd opinions) at least to make sure nothing goes unseen, as I can feel your pain of flying for 12 feet and landing on a hard surface. Take care.

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

Glad that you managed to walk away from what looks like a rather nasty crash.

From your description of the incident, you seem to have done everything correctly. But no one can do anything to fix such badly trained drivers.

Very happy you were wearing a helmet.

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

I can empathize with your situation because I started riding a two wheeler again from today, after a gap of almost 12 years. I had a horrendous incident earlier while riding, so I stopped, but due to my place of work being so near to home, I felt guilty using my car.

Anyway, today, after returning back from my place of work, I had to take a right turn. I indicted a while back to show that I was going to take a right turn, then a car comes up (there is an incline), sees me, and doesn't brake, instead speeds up. I was riding at a slow pace (maybe around 20-25 km/hr) since I'm scared of riding fast on two wheelers after the incident. In order to save myself, I had to push the throttle and thankfully was able to get out of the way just before the car speedily crossed me. Another incident happened when I almost reached home, I had to take another left turn, I indicated a while back to show that I was going to take a turn when three young boys on a Scooty whizzed past me and overtook me from the left side. I almost crashed into them because I assumed they would have seen the turn signal which I had turned on keeping adequate distance in mind.

Tomorrow will be the second day of using the Scooty to go to work. I'm having second thoughts after the narrow escape I had today and also after reading your post. Hope you will recover fully and bounce back on your feet. It seems that it's not just enough to follow traffic rule,s but we also have to gauge the intent of other automobiles on the road these days. Stay safe brother.

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