Overtaking from the left can kill. 5 people in a Maruti Alto hatchback paid with their lives for this mistake. A horrific accident that happened on the expressway in Nizamabad district of Telangana left all five traveling in the car dead. This video explains more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvpSpd3au20
The Alto was overtaking a loaded truck at an intersection, from the left. The car suddenly swerved and was first clipped by the truck it was trying to overtake. It then got sandwiched between the first truck and another truck coming from the opposite direction that didn’t show any sign slowing down for the intersection.
On hindsight, could this accident have been avoided? Here are 2 things that could have helped.
- Never, ever overtake from the left. Overtaking from the left means that a heavy vehicle such as a bus or truck cannot really see the smaller vehicle overtaking it. And if the truck/bus driver isn’t able to see the vehicle that’s overtaking, the risk of an accident becomes much greater.
- Always slow down at intersections. Intersections are places where you need to slow down, and proceed cautiously after making sure that there are no vehicles in your path, from the front and the sides. Speeding through an intersection can be very dangerous, just as the video above indicates.
From the video, all 3 drivers (Alto and the 2 trucks) seem to be at fault. The car driver seems to be overtaking recklessly, from the left, and that too at an intersection. Both the truck drivers seem to be approaching the intersection without slowing down adequately. Throw all these vehicles and the reckless actions of its drivers into the mix, and you have a deadly cocktail that just claimed 5 lives.