The other night we were driving home from Ganiyari on the busy main road when a motorcycle going the opposite way and carrying three people wiped out. The passengers skidded along the road with the cycle, starting their slide at their driving speed of around 30 mph, traveling unprotected in the middle of the road as friction brought them to a halt. Our driver luckily had time to swerve to avoid running them over, and fortunately none of them were seriously injured.
In this first month of the year we have already seen a number of wrecks on the road. On New Year's day we saw the smashed remains of two big trucks which had hit head on. These trucks are not as big as 18-wheelers, but are built like dump trucks, made for hauling cargo. Based on what was left of the passenger compartments it would have been a miracle if there were no fatalities.
A week or two later an SUV T-boned a passenger van. The first evening we saw the vehicles on the side of the road, and the debris from the accident marked the intersection for many days. JSS was involved with those injured in this incident, and in this case there were several fatalities.
I have been told that India has the highest number of deaths per 1000 vehicles. No one wears seat belts. The roads here are crowded and often in poor condition. Major routes are often barely two lanes wide, like a rural county road in the US, and these roads are shared by massive trucks, 3 wheel taxis, bicycles and even ox-carts. When two trucks pass there is room for no one else. Truck drivers don't appear to be particularly regulated, and the drivers may be drunk/sleep-deprived/who-knows-what. These rural highways seem to be more dangerous than the city, where it is more crowded, but people are more aware and driving slower.
It is in the back of our minds that we could be victims of a traffic accident. JSS has good drivers to pilot the vehicles, and we are in sizeable SUV's, so we have reason to hope we make it out OK!
In this first month of the year we have already seen a number of wrecks on the road. On New Year's day we saw the smashed remains of two big trucks which had hit head on. These trucks are not as big as 18-wheelers, but are built like dump trucks, made for hauling cargo. Based on what was left of the passenger compartments it would have been a miracle if there were no fatalities.
A week or two later an SUV T-boned a passenger van. The first evening we saw the vehicles on the side of the road, and the debris from the accident marked the intersection for many days. JSS was involved with those injured in this incident, and in this case there were several fatalities.
I have been told that India has the highest number of deaths per 1000 vehicles. No one wears seat belts. The roads here are crowded and often in poor condition. Major routes are often barely two lanes wide, like a rural county road in the US, and these roads are shared by massive trucks, 3 wheel taxis, bicycles and even ox-carts. When two trucks pass there is room for no one else. Truck drivers don't appear to be particularly regulated, and the drivers may be drunk/sleep-deprived/who-knows-what. These rural highways seem to be more dangerous than the city, where it is more crowded, but people are more aware and driving slower.
It is in the back of our minds that we could be victims of a traffic accident. JSS has good drivers to pilot the vehicles, and we are in sizeable SUV's, so we have reason to hope we make it out OK!
