Road Accidents: Watch, Learn & Avoid

[kaiserketkar]

The WHO has some interesting statistics on road accidents:

• There are about 1.25 million fatalities each year from road accidents.
• Of these, 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries. Interestingly, these countries collectively have only half the world's vehicles.
• Road accidents are the leading cause of death among young people in the 15-29 yr age group.
• A large part of these fatalities are vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.

Here's some of the top causes for road accidents:
1. Distracted Driving, including cellphone use
2. Speeding
3. Drunk Driving
4. Reckless Driving, including running red lights, driving the wrong way, lane cutting, etc.
5. Road Rage
6. Drowsy Driving
7. Potholes
8. Rain, fog, etc.
9. Tyre bursts, brake failure and other mechanical issues.

With the increasing number of vehicles fighting for the limited space on the road, things are only going to get uglier. While some things are out of our hands, we other things are easily manageable. This thread has been started with the intention of showcasing such accidents and hopefully helping to avoid more such situations.

[kaiserketkar]

Let me start off with an accident from August I witnessed. This is the recording of the accident from the dashcam in my car.

I'd like to take a moment here to talk a bit about dash cams- on today's roads, the importance of having a dashcam in your car cannot be understated. You may well end up in an accident where it's not your fault at all. But at the end of the day, it's your word against the other person's. If you have a dashcam to back up your story, things get so much simpler. Dash cams today are available at a wide range of pricepoints from ~2000INR onwards. Get more info on dashcams here.

So back to the accident- The Innova approaching me from front showed his intention to take a right turn with his indicators, so I slowed down. This two wheeler guy thought he could overtake me from the left and it was only when he had got past me that he must've seen the Innova. By his own admission, the brakes on the scooter weren't working properly. It's a miracle that those two guys are awake and hopefully without major injuries.

[Roshun]

Kaiserketkar
Thanks for floating this thread. It is important that we highlight the absolutely dismal traffic conditions in India - both sides are equally to blame. The authorities don't enforce road rules properly enough, the civic bodies don't bother with proper infrastructure, and then there's the general public who completely ignore all laws, with many thinking they are above the law.
Related thread: Bike accidents in India

[Praveen]

[QUOTE_NODE]"Originally posted by Roshun" Kaiserketkar Thanks for floating this thread. It is important that we highlight the absolutely dismal traffic conditions in India - both sides are equally to blame. The authorities don't enforce road rules properly enough, the civic bodies don't bother with proper infrastructure, and then there's the general public who completely ignore all laws, with many thinking they are above the law. [/QUOTE_NODE] I think all the schools should teach students of all classes about road traffic rules. A half hour class every day for all grades will help reinforce the habit of sensible driving/riding, don't you think? This could pay off well if done consistently over the years. Half of the populace aren't even aware of certain traffic rules! Additionally, these kids should also be taught how to maintain their vehicles properly. They could start off with bicycles and for the 10th/12th-grade kids, maintenance tips on motorcycles and cars could be given. Just my two cents.

[kaiserketkar]

[QUOTE_NODE]"Originally posted by Roshun"

Kaiserketkar Thanks for floating this thread. It is important that we highlight the absolutely dismal traffic conditions in India - both sides are equally to blame. The authorities don't enforce road rules properly enough, the civic bodies don't bother with proper infrastructure, and then there's the general public who completely ignore all laws, with many thinking they are above the law. [/QUOTE_NODE]

I think all the schools should teach students of all classes about road traffic rules. A half hour class every day for all grades will help reinforce the habit of sensible driving/riding, don't you think? This could pay off well if done consistently over the years. Half of the populace aren't even aware of certain traffic rules! Additionally, these kids should also be taught how to maintain their vehicles properly. They could start off with bicycles and for the 10th/12th-grade kids, maintenance tips on motorcycles and cars could be given. Just my two cents.

Very true. This awareness needs to start right from school days.
On similar lines, not for the kids, but for the school bus drivers/ attendants, Tata Motors had run a CSR initiative called Hamare Bus Ki Baat, where they trained bus drivers in all aspects of driving a school bus, managing children, etc. They conducted one such workshop for my daughter's school transporters. It was an interactive session where psychologists, educators conducting programmes for them, along with a short film, skit etc. This is an excellent initiative I feel, as these aspects are mostly ignored by both the school as well as the transport company.

[Arjun]

Kaiserketkar I agree with you. Outside school also, parents should take care how they drive and act when they are along with their children. Children learn from us and follow the trend. If we instill road manners and act by example, children will follow too. I feel the Prime Minister should start a campaign for road safety similar to the Swatch Bharat campaign. Even though a lot of people still haven't changed, I cannot deny that the campaign has bought some change. Mostly the TV and news paper campaign have reached the young children and even they are proactively stopping the elders from spreading waste. If we have children who warn their parents when they break the signal, I am sure the parents would give in. Other than that, I feel driving schools also play an important role. In many cases, I have seen driving school vehicles coming from the wrong side or breaking signals. The instructors should always teach the right things to the students. Of the lot, I feel Maruti Driving schools are doing a good job in this aspect. Other than regular driving classes, they also have simulator and theory classes where such things are taught. They also teach about precautions to take during long drives, and the checks to perform before you drive the car. Such small but significant things help making a driver better. This in turns makes the roads safer.

[kaiserketkar]

Here's one more accident video. Not my own. Got it on WhatsApp. From the looks of it, seems to be Kerala. This shows the disastrous effects of a very common habit among the two wheeler riders in India. Most of them don't wear helmets, except where it's compulsory. Those that do, won't strap up. As a result in the event of a collision, the helmet is the first to fly off leaving the rider's head as unprotected as ever. Why this laziness at the cost of your life and limb, I'll never understand. Here's an interesting analogy regarding wearing helmets: Riding a bike at 55 kmph means you are moving at 49 feet per second. It is the speed at which you would hit the ground, if you were to jump from the fourth floor of a building. You may have a million excuses for not protecting yourself with a helmet. But this is reason enough for all those arguments to do a vanishing act. A little care can save your life. [youtube_video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=sSeDYFnhYuw[/youtube_video]

[Praveen]

kaiserketkar Not securing the helmet properly frustrates me as well. The thing is, lot of people who wear helmets wear it only for the sake of not being caught by the cops. They don't bother about the actual purpose of the helmet. I have seen people just 'put on' broken helmet that is literally taped together! They just put it on like a hat and ride around without a care! As much as the cops spread awareness about wearing helmets, they should emphasize on securing the helmet as well. That's what our country has come to.

[Arjun]

Praveen After the compulsion for pillion riders to wear helmets its fun to see what all people use. I have seen pillions riding with 1.Cricket helmets 2. Construction helmets 3. Horse Riding helmets 4. Bicycle helmet Thankfully have not seen anyone wearing sausepans over their heads yet Once I found one guy on the lift, who was holding a horse riding helmet. When I asked him, why he couldn't have just purchased a motorcycle helmet, his answer was that horse riding helmet is compact and it fits in his shoulder bag if required. I really don't get the point of doing such formality. Similarly have seen many drivers who just pull the seatbelt half way when the see the police. They don't even clamp it and then leave it once they cross the policemen. The safety regulations are for our own safety and that is something that has to be understood. Until we realise that and insist on wearing helmets without being forced by the police, there will be such instances. Regarding unstrapped helmets, that's also a very common occurance. While being stuck in traffic, I observe people around me and most of them wouldn't have fastened the strap. Even if its a little loosely fastened, fastening the strap makes a lot of difference in an accident scenario. Now, with the pillion helmet rule, many carry extra helmets either on their elbows or just strapped to the rear grab rail. Many times the helmets just fall on the road making it dangerous for other users.

[Roshun]

Arjun
We have a basic disregard for all sorts of safety in India. Not just the above example of not fastening helmets. Every day I see a blatant number of traffic violations, which are also safety hazards, while driving to work:
1. No strapped on helmets
2. Seat belts not properly buckled (or only buckled up when approaching a traffic signal or cop)
3. Outside rear view mirrors folded
4. No lane discipline, straddling lanes
5. No stoppping before stop line. Running the amber light.
6. Tail-gating
7. Zig-zagging, changing lanes at random without signals.
This list can go on...

[kaiserketkar]

6 DEAD, 3 INJURED IN ACCIDENT ON EASTERN FREEWAY IN MUMBAI In the latest instance on the Eastern Freeway, a Hyundai Santro taxi turned turtle, killing most of it's occupants. The taxi was carrying 9 people [including the driver]- double the designated capacity of the car. Of these were 3 women, 4 men and 2 children. Some reports say the door of the taxi flung open, causing the driver to lose control and ram into the divider. Subsequent to this impact, the taxi toppled a few times before coming to a standstill. Since this happened around 9am, it threw traffic out of gear for a better part of the morning. The Eastern Freeway has been a Godsend for folks from the eastern suburbs of Mumbai to travel into town. This is an almost completely elevated 17 kms long road that connects Chembur to VT. It cuts down the travel time from an hour + to just about 10-15 mins. But, we don't deserve such roads. Most of us don't look at such roads as convenience but as racing strips. Same goes for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway & the Sea Link/ Bandra Reclamation. Invariably we turn these roads into death traps. Remember the Jahnavi Gadkar drunken driving case [also on the Eastern Freeway] Expect the not unexpected reaction by the traffic police/ PWD- installing speed-breaker mountains all over the Freeway.

[Arjun]

Kaiserketkar 9 people in a Santro?? Not surprising in a country where we often see 4 on a bike. The door flinging open is quite a possibility. Being a taxi,and also being many years old, the door may have been used much more than usual. Add to this the force from inside,with 5 or more people in the rear seat, the locking mechanism may have given up. The sudden disbalance after someone falling may have caused roll to the already tall car which may have then turned turtle.

[Roshun]

This week there were a couple of more gruesome accidents which could have been avoided if the drivers were careful. One such, is this brand new Toyota Fortuner which rolled over somewhere in Madhya Pradesh. The driver, reportedly, died. Airbags seem to have deployed and there's no frontal collision damage, which indicates that the vehicle was probably negotiating a turn at high speed and slid off the road and rolled. This again brings up the caveat about driving SUVS - you have to slow down on turns, as the laws of physics cannot be overcome with any amount of gizmo trickery.
Side and curtain airbags have deployed as seen in this image. But the roof appears to have caved in just above the driver's head.

[Arjun]

Roshun Its sad to see the pic of the car in this state even before you see one in flesh. Most people forget that SUVs aren't meant to be driven fast especially around corners. Can't blame the car much, as I feel most other cars would be in similar or worse conditions after such an accident.

[Praveen]

Arjun Also, I feel the driver might not have driven according to the run-in conditions (as the car looks brand new). Had he taken it easy, he wouldn't have ended up like this. Another concern I have is the A-pillar. Shouldn't the A pillar be extra strong because it has to take the load of the engine ahead in case it lands upside down?