LPG laden truck catches fire on NH58 in Uttarakhand on 23/6/2017

A truck laden with nearly 300 Indane LPG cylinders caught fire and exploded on NH58 in Khankra between Rishikesh and Badrinath on 23/6/2017 morning, according to ANI report.
The Chardham Yatra has been partially affected by the untoward incident.

Royal Enfield Bullet rider fined for not wearing seatbelt in Goa in June 2017

Satish S Naik was riding his Royal Enfield Bullet in Ponda, Goa on 2017-06-07 when he was flagged down by the cops for not wearing a helmet. Since Goa now has a law that requires the rider to wear a helmet while riding, he was asked to pay the Rs 100 challan. While the police officer was filling in the challan form, he filled in the offense as ‘Not wearing a seatbelt’ as opposed to ‘Not wearing a helmet’.

It is obvious that bikes don’t offer a seatbelt and that the officer meant to write helmet. However, this challan is certainly funny to read. The scanned copy of the challan has gone viral over the internet over the past few days. Luckily though, the officer got the Section of Law right. While the offense for not wearing a seatbelt comes under Section 177 of the CMVR, that of not wearing a helmet comes under Section 129 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

It is quite common to see people not wearing helmets, carrying more than one pillion and even jumping signals when on the bike. It is only in India that we see people not really taking such rules seriously. Everywhere else, people wear helmets and riding gear to protect themselves, not just to be safe from getting fined.

A lot of riders sling the helmet on the handle bar and wear it while nearing a cop. Make sure to buy a helmet that has a ISI mark. Also, wearing other riding gear such as gloves, knee guards and jackets can help save riders from injuries during an accident.

Salt laden truck falls on Maruti Swift leaving 5 passengers dead in Jaipur

A salt laden overloaded truck fell over a car in the wee hours of Tuesday, 2017-06-06. The accident happened at the Chomu Circle area near Jaipur, Rajasthan. 

The 18-wheel truck that weighed about 46 tonne overturned while taking a turn. The Maruti Swift car was parallel to the truck when the incident happened. The truck was carrying sacks of salt which completely covered the Swift.

Local police say that the car remained under the truck for nearly three hours. No one knew about the car till a crane came and lifted the truck from the spot. The accident took place at 4 AM, but the flattened Swift was discovered only at 6 AM. By then, all the passengers were dead.

“At first, we thought it was a simple case of an overloaded truck turning turtle due to a sharp turn, however, when we lifted the truck, we found a car buried under it. The car was completely flattened and the bodies disfigured. It was an arduous task for us to remove the bodies from the car as they were badly trapped,” a police official who was present at the spot told TOI.

There were 5 occupants in the vehicle and all of them were badly disfigured. The family was preparing for a wedding. The engaged couple along with 3 others were on their way to Nahargarh Fort when the accident took place. They had planned to see the sunrise from the fort, which is situated at the top of a hill.

The driver and the helper of the truck fled the spot immediately after the mishap. The cops suspect that the truck was being driven at a high speed and the driver suddenly applied brakes that caused the heavy vehicle to lose balance and turned turtle. The Swift has been transformed into a sheet of metal.

Indian roads are full of overloaded vehicles which pose a great threat to everyone around. It is extremely important to be extra cautious from these slow moving vehicles on the highways. Here are a few things that one can do to avoid such mishaps.

Never drive near overloaded vehicles or goods vehicle, they move slow and are potentially dangerous. While overtaking, do not spend too much time alongside such heavy vehicles, overtake quickly and promptly. If a big vehicle is following your car, give way or drive away from it. Such vehicles have low braking power and can rear-end your vehicle. Never overtake a heavy vehicle on sharp turns and corners. They are prone to tilting on its sides while taking sharp turns. 

Source: Times of India, Hindustan Times, CarTorq.com 

Ambulance Bike in India

The rural roads of India are extremely narrow. After a few ambulances failed to reach interior parts of rural areas, innovators came up with unique bike ambulances. The bike ambulance consists of a sidecar that has been modified for the patient to lie down and travel. This jugaad is truly a life saving one. 

Source: CarToq