Saturday, December 21, 2013
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Accident...???
I have been driving on the Indian highways intensively for the past over 6 years now and have never had any accident, inspite of several close shaves. That is, until this month.
On the 6th of July 2007 I took up a trip between Hyderabad & Chennai. I reached Ongole around 4 pm and the NH5 connecting to Chennai, thereafter was a dream come true. A 4 lane toll road with dividers separating both the sides and a official speed limit of 100.. ? On Indian roads...? Unbelievable but true. No surprises.. no pot-holes.. no bumps...no un-marked breakers at all. Around 8 pm, as darkness fell, I commented to my companion that all the dread of night driving of all these years was totally getting wiped out by this totally pleasurable experience...when suddenly bamm... I had just crossed the TADA police station and was near a place called Elavur, near the Gummidipondi police station (these locations are all after knowledge ). Opposite the Anjaneyaswami temple, right in the middle of the road, covering the entire width was a huge mound of dug up earth and metal... no signs whatsoever... no diversions... no warning... no signal et al at all. I had just about 2 seconds left for any action and I was going at 70. I could swerve the steering to the right with all my might to avoid a headlong hit and brake simultaneously. I succeeded... almost. A quarter of an inch of the left front wheel rim hit the broken edge of the concrete divider with the force of 1 ton velicity at 70 kMPH, resulting in massive damage to the 4 wheeler, but escaped without any massive bodily injury, by the grace of God. It took more than 2 hours of cajoling the local people to help us. I could contact the highway patrol from a nearby S.O.S. booth, which reached the A.P.police and they told me that since this area was in Tamil Nadu, they were of no help and nor could they furnish me with the TN police number. I dialled 100 from my mobile and got the TN police, who told me that I was in A.P. and not in their jurisdiction. I couldn't argue with either - language was another deterrent - and as best, organised a crane and a taxi to take us both home safe & sound, at a huge cost. Under the circumstances I could not register an F.I.R. with either of the police and had to suffer further massive vehicle repair costs, since for an insurance claim, F.I.R. is a must.
After 20 days, when I could recover sufficiently, I revisited the spot and was amazed at the directions and warning signs displayed in full might.
Being an Indian we are not allowed the liberty of terms like 'mental torture', 'moral turpitude', et al... When I had paid the toll fees all through, the National Roadways Authority of India had entered into a de-facto contract with me to ensure my safety, by maintaining the road.. in which they had failed miserably... but I have no rights... being in India. I can't imagine, how many millions of dollars I stood gaining, had this happened in the U.S. of A. But being an Indian, I must thank my stars that I am alive.. so what if I lost a couple of lakhs and 20 days of time...??
On the 6th of July 2007 I took up a trip between Hyderabad & Chennai. I reached Ongole around 4 pm and the NH5 connecting to Chennai, thereafter was a dream come true. A 4 lane toll road with dividers separating both the sides and a official speed limit of 100.. ? On Indian roads...? Unbelievable but true. No surprises.. no pot-holes.. no bumps...no un-marked breakers at all. Around 8 pm, as darkness fell, I commented to my companion that all the dread of night driving of all these years was totally getting wiped out by this totally pleasurable experience...when suddenly bamm... I had just crossed the TADA police station and was near a place called Elavur, near the Gummidipondi police station (these locations are all after knowledge ). Opposite the Anjaneyaswami temple, right in the middle of the road, covering the entire width was a huge mound of dug up earth and metal... no signs whatsoever... no diversions... no warning... no signal et al at all. I had just about 2 seconds left for any action and I was going at 70. I could swerve the steering to the right with all my might to avoid a headlong hit and brake simultaneously. I succeeded... almost. A quarter of an inch of the left front wheel rim hit the broken edge of the concrete divider with the force of 1 ton velicity at 70 kMPH, resulting in massive damage to the 4 wheeler, but escaped without any massive bodily injury, by the grace of God. It took more than 2 hours of cajoling the local people to help us. I could contact the highway patrol from a nearby S.O.S. booth, which reached the A.P.police and they told me that since this area was in Tamil Nadu, they were of no help and nor could they furnish me with the TN police number. I dialled 100 from my mobile and got the TN police, who told me that I was in A.P. and not in their jurisdiction. I couldn't argue with either - language was another deterrent - and as best, organised a crane and a taxi to take us both home safe & sound, at a huge cost. Under the circumstances I could not register an F.I.R. with either of the police and had to suffer further massive vehicle repair costs, since for an insurance claim, F.I.R. is a must.
After 20 days, when I could recover sufficiently, I revisited the spot and was amazed at the directions and warning signs displayed in full might.
Being an Indian we are not allowed the liberty of terms like 'mental torture', 'moral turpitude', et al... When I had paid the toll fees all through, the National Roadways Authority of India had entered into a de-facto contract with me to ensure my safety, by maintaining the road.. in which they had failed miserably... but I have no rights... being in India. I can't imagine, how many millions of dollars I stood gaining, had this happened in the U.S. of A. But being an Indian, I must thank my stars that I am alive.. so what if I lost a couple of lakhs and 20 days of time...??
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
