19 May 2008 14 Comments

The Road Accident

If you follow me on Twitter, you might already know that I had a serious road accident while returning from college on Saturday, on a bike with my friend.

Here’s an account of what exactly happened.

Shahid Udham Singh College of Engineering and Technology is located on a busy highway at about 25 kilometers from Chandigarh City, where I live with my younger brother. The heavy traffic on this highway is mainly comprised of heavy duty vehicles like buses, tractors and transport trucks that carry cement, heavy machinery and other goods across the Punjab and Haryana border.

I and my friend, Ranchit, were riding back after appearing for our last of the external examinations, Manufacturing Practices *Feeling Lucky*. Half-way through the distance there is this stop called Landran from where we take a turn to the city. We had barely covered another mile, when we saw 2 guys riding another bike right in the middle of the road, just in front of us. Asking for side, Ranchit blew the horn of our bike and seeing them slow down a bit, accelerated to overtake them.

Its summer time in India and the weather is unexceptionally hot and humid. These are the days when the busiest roads are lined with more stalls than the eucalyptus trees and interspersed with wild grass. Stalls that sell fruits like orange n mango in bulk at prices less than the city fruit markets and stalls that sell refreshing glasses of ice-chilled Sugarcane Juice.

The guys on the other bike probably had neither heard us blowing horn behind them, nor did they notice that we were speeding to overtake them. This generally happens when people use cheap helmets (from the road side vendors, again…) that are stuffed with thermocol like vegetables in a burger from McDonalds.

Anyways! When we were crossing the bikers, the pillion rider shouted out to his mate to pull aside for a glass of sugar cane juice from one of the stalls. His right arm that he stretched out to signal to the other side of the road, almost hit Ranchit in face. The driver was shocked by the unexpected order that was conveyed as some emergency signal! He turned the handle to the left and then right like a flickering tube light. He soon lost control over the bike and started skidding to his right.

The tail of their bike crashed into the fairing of our ‘Karizma’ (that’s the bike). Then our handle got locked in their rear stock and this is from where the disaster started. Along with theirs, our bike too started skidding to the right. Because we were at a greater speed our bike crashed on the road with me skidding ahead of it. Ranchit was still on the bike trying to brake so that we don’t hit any of the trees or stalls at much speed. The pillion rider on the other bike fell upon him and dismounted Ranchit from the bike.

We crossed the 2-lane road to come to a halt on the other side of it. I and Ranchit were feeling just too lucky because our own bike would have crushed us if it didn’t stop by crashing into the tree we fell behind at an arm’s length from us. The other bike crashed into the next tree.

Ranchit got his right knee injured badly, with deep cuts on the right foot and bruises on both arms. I couldn’t move my right fist and had some bruises on my right arm. I wasn’t feeling much pain from the wounds, but from the fear that I might not be able to appear for the final 2^nd semester exams starting this 29^th.

The other guys weren’t hurt much and came over to help us and washed our wounds along with the people from the near-by stalls who came with jugs of water. The guys were pleading sorry about all that happened and suggested that we go and get tetanus injections. Ranchit was about to start shouting on them when I took them aside and told them that now the worst had happened and fighting over it or scolding them won’t heal us… so they better leave.

Ranchit was in pain and soon after we washed his wounds, I signaled him to get his helmet and we all should leave before we get involved in a police case. The handle of the bike got displaced but I somehow rode Ranchit back to the city. We went to a doctor who charged INR 250 for just 2 tetanus injections and unasked consultation (my parents are doctors, and I don’t trust many others.) Because I couldn’t move my wrist much, I thought it was a hair line fracture. The X-Ray showed nothing like that however, and I concluded that it was just an internal injury.

At home, my brother washed our wounds, cut Ranchit’s denims from his knee to remove them and served us with water to drink and then some jokes to make us feel better. Then he applied some butadiene on my wounds and fixed my wrist with a crape-bandage after applying anti-inflammatory lotion.

This is the first road accident that I have been involved in, in my life, that too without me being at fault. It wasn’t Ranchit’s either.

At the end of the day, any way, we are feeling lucky enough that

· First of all, we were alive!

· There was no truck or trailer coming from the opposite side to crush us. Generally, this road is TOO busy, but this Saturday it was empty for sometime because of a traffic jam in the city.

· It was our last external examination of the semester that day.

· We are hurt, but we’d be OK by the time our exams start. At least, our right hands would be fine.

· We were wise enough not to spoil anyone’s day by indulging in a fight with the other party. Fighting wouldn’t heal our wounds.

· We weren’t caught up in a police case. The policemen in India are robbers in disguise! Big ones!

2 days after the accident, I am able to move my wrist and hold a pen. Phew! I’d be able to write my exams…

Accidents are bad. Drive safely. Do not over-speed. If you’re a pillion rider, take care that you do not disturb or shock the driver. Always use quality-checked safety helmets. Keep Safe.

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