A freak Accident
Yesterday, I witnessed my first accident of 2009. It's also the first since I bought my flying ranee (that's what I call my little two-wheeled wonder). Fortunately for me, I wasn't a part of the accident.....well almost!!
The sankrant or pongal holiday on Wednesday meant that I was looking forward to spend Tuesday evening woth some vodka and chicken. I left a little early from office and encountered a decent bit of traffic on the roads. As usual, I took a U-turn on the inner ring road and started zipping along the long curved 3 lane road, heading for Indiranagar. This is the stretch where I reach my maximum speed of aroun 70 kmph. However, due to the traffic I wasn't able to accelerate. A few 100 metres after the U turn, comes a long left hand bend. I moved to the outermost lane and overtook a few cars as I reached the bend. There was a guy riding a Bajaj Pulsar ahead of me. Next to us was a White Sumo carrying a few IT proffessinals home. I was waiting for the bend to finish, so that I could overtake the biker and move ahead. But he had different plans.
He accelerated at the bend and, for some reason, was even looking to change lanes. But all of a sudden he saw the Sumo and jerked his bike back to the right....that's when it happened....
His bike couldn't handle the the sudden turn at that speed and flipped. He lost control and flew off the bike. His bike flew a bit to the left and slid along the road. Sparks flew as the metal screached against the dambar. The guy however, flew to the right.....the momentum of his fall was making him flip horizontally.
Seeing him loose control, I had already slammed the break. But soon I realized that the guy was on the ground....and I was heading straight for him!!!
I, too, was a decent speed and, I know now that, Activa doesn't neccessarily have the best disc breaks. I had slammed my breaks so hard that I almost did a reverse wheely. Thank god for the fact that my Activa has its engine at the back. If it had been any other bike, I would have probably found my reverse tyre in the air!!
As the guy rolled and came to a stop, he saw my scooter heading for him and assumed I was going to run him over. He had put his hand out over his head.....but luckily.....my bike stopped just one feet from his body.
The entire traffic on the ring road came to a stop.........
I put my bike on the stand and headed for the guy. The Sumo driver was already there. The biker got up and just rested himself against the divider. He was obviously dazed. The Sumo driver helped me move his bike to the side of the road. Another Alto car driver, who was travelling with his family had stepped out of his car.
We asked the guy if he was ok and after a few minutes he said...."yeah...I am fine."
I asked the sumo driver to leave since his vehicle was blocking the remaining traffic. The guy in the Alto offered him some water while I got busy in asking people to leave to avoid further traffic. I told him to take it easy and rest for a while. I have been the victim on two occassions now and understood what he must have been going through. I helped him move his bike to the left hand side of the road, amidst the oncoming traffic. I even saw many drivers giving us wild stares not knowing what had just happened. After reaching the other end, I examined his bike and was actually amazed to see that apart from a few stratches and a bent side mirror, the bike was intact. Way to go Bajaj!!
I sat with him for 5 minutes after which he said...."I am ok. I think I will go home."
I asked to be careful and get himself checked once he reaches home for any bruises or internal injuries. He thanked me, shook my hand and left. I followed him for a while and than as our paths departed, he gave me a thumbs up saying...All was ok.
There was lesson in all this. We need to drive carefully. Lot of accidents happen on the raods of Bengaluru, especially owing to the fact that the ratio of bikes to cars is quite high. We need to identify the limits of our vehicles and push it only as far as it can go. Accidents may still happen...but then, those are just unfortunate.
They say life just goes on.......and so, I continued as planned and spent my night with a glass of vodka in one hand and a grilled chicken in the other.
Happy and 'Safe' PONGAL everyone.......
The sankrant or pongal holiday on Wednesday meant that I was looking forward to spend Tuesday evening woth some vodka and chicken. I left a little early from office and encountered a decent bit of traffic on the roads. As usual, I took a U-turn on the inner ring road and started zipping along the long curved 3 lane road, heading for Indiranagar. This is the stretch where I reach my maximum speed of aroun 70 kmph. However, due to the traffic I wasn't able to accelerate. A few 100 metres after the U turn, comes a long left hand bend. I moved to the outermost lane and overtook a few cars as I reached the bend. There was a guy riding a Bajaj Pulsar ahead of me. Next to us was a White Sumo carrying a few IT proffessinals home. I was waiting for the bend to finish, so that I could overtake the biker and move ahead. But he had different plans.
He accelerated at the bend and, for some reason, was even looking to change lanes. But all of a sudden he saw the Sumo and jerked his bike back to the right....that's when it happened....
His bike couldn't handle the the sudden turn at that speed and flipped. He lost control and flew off the bike. His bike flew a bit to the left and slid along the road. Sparks flew as the metal screached against the dambar. The guy however, flew to the right.....the momentum of his fall was making him flip horizontally.
Seeing him loose control, I had already slammed the break. But soon I realized that the guy was on the ground....and I was heading straight for him!!!
I, too, was a decent speed and, I know now that, Activa doesn't neccessarily have the best disc breaks. I had slammed my breaks so hard that I almost did a reverse wheely. Thank god for the fact that my Activa has its engine at the back. If it had been any other bike, I would have probably found my reverse tyre in the air!!
As the guy rolled and came to a stop, he saw my scooter heading for him and assumed I was going to run him over. He had put his hand out over his head.....but luckily.....my bike stopped just one feet from his body.
The entire traffic on the ring road came to a stop.........
I put my bike on the stand and headed for the guy. The Sumo driver was already there. The biker got up and just rested himself against the divider. He was obviously dazed. The Sumo driver helped me move his bike to the side of the road. Another Alto car driver, who was travelling with his family had stepped out of his car.
We asked the guy if he was ok and after a few minutes he said...."yeah...I am fine."
I asked the sumo driver to leave since his vehicle was blocking the remaining traffic. The guy in the Alto offered him some water while I got busy in asking people to leave to avoid further traffic. I told him to take it easy and rest for a while. I have been the victim on two occassions now and understood what he must have been going through. I helped him move his bike to the left hand side of the road, amidst the oncoming traffic. I even saw many drivers giving us wild stares not knowing what had just happened. After reaching the other end, I examined his bike and was actually amazed to see that apart from a few stratches and a bent side mirror, the bike was intact. Way to go Bajaj!!
I sat with him for 5 minutes after which he said...."I am ok. I think I will go home."
I asked to be careful and get himself checked once he reaches home for any bruises or internal injuries. He thanked me, shook my hand and left. I followed him for a while and than as our paths departed, he gave me a thumbs up saying...All was ok.
There was lesson in all this. We need to drive carefully. Lot of accidents happen on the raods of Bengaluru, especially owing to the fact that the ratio of bikes to cars is quite high. We need to identify the limits of our vehicles and push it only as far as it can go. Accidents may still happen...but then, those are just unfortunate.
They say life just goes on.......and so, I continued as planned and spent my night with a glass of vodka in one hand and a grilled chicken in the other.
Happy and 'Safe' PONGAL everyone.......
Comments
And I think the effects of the accident have not yet worn off.
REVERSE TYRE !! DISC BRAKES in ACTIVA !!! Dude, take the day off, and have a stiff vodka to relax.