Young pilot on a BMW GS 1200 superbike crushed under trailer after overtaking goes wrong

A 28 year-old pilot from Bhayander, Varun Bamrotia Ahir, was crushed to death on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway. Mr. Ahir was said to be overtaking a trailer truck on his BMW GS 1200R adventure bike when tragedy struck, leading to him being crushed under the wheels of the trailer.

The trailer truck driver is said to have fled the spot after the accident. Mr. Ahir – a keen motorcycle enthusiast – was said to be wearing safety gear such as crash helmet, riding jacket, gloves, etc, at the time of the accident. He was riding to Manor, with a group of 10-15 other bikers when the accident happened.

There are conflicting reports about the accident. A senior police official has said that the accident happened because Mr. Ahir changed lanes at high-speed, and came under the wheels of the trailer-truck. Varun’s friends and fellow bikers, who were riding along with him disagree. Here’s a fellow biker’s account of the accident,

When we reached near the Sativali bridge, there was a trailer in the middle lane. Varun was set to over take it, but when he was about to cross, the trailer suddenly came in the first lane and Varun came under its rear tyre. Varun’s brother Kunal was also with us. We all ran towards the trailer, but the driver had fled. After that, we called the police and took him to the nearest hospital, but he was declared dead before admission. Varun was a very safe rider.

Another friend of Mr. Ahir, Prasad Patil said,

 When the accident occurred, I was exactly behind him. It all happened within seconds. Varun was the best rider with tremendous control over his bike. We are certified bikers and always rode together. People used to call us Jay and Viru. I miss him.

Overtaking heavy vehicles is always dangerous…

And this is mainly because heavy vehicles have large blind spots, and drivers of such vehicles often miss spotting smaller vehicles such as bikes and scooters, and even cars in some cases. The key to overtaking such vehicles lies in adequate signaling. Honk and flash simultaneously, to let the driver of the heavy vehicle know that you’re approaching. Also, give the driver of  the heavy vehicle enough time to respond.

Avoid riding alongside a heavy vehicle. In other words, the overtaking move should be swift, but only after making sure that the driver of the heavy vehicle knows that you’re overtaking. Also, changing lanes abruptly during or after overtaking a heavy vehicle can be very dangerous as the the heavy vehicle cannot change direction as quickly and nimbly as a small vehicle.

The driver of the trailer-truck has been arrested, and an investigation is now on.

Via Mid-Day