A lesson why one shouldn’t speed in hilly areas

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A few days ago I was in Murree enjoying with my friends. From there we were going to Ayubia when I witnessed this accident. The accident occurred just a few seconds before we became witnesses to its aftermath. It is being shared for awareness and to raise a few points which will be discussed later.

The accident occurred like this: Two cars, both Corollas were going in the same direction. Both were colleagues and with their families. Now the grey Corolla tried to overtake the black corolla on a turn, where a cow awaited the drivers in the blind area. The grey Corolla person applied brakes and turned to right, hitting the black corolla from behind. As a result the black corolla spun out of control and hit a Hi-Ace coming from the other end. The result:

  1. Grey corolla damaged from front, nothing major though.
  2. The black Corolla took extensive damage at the front and behind. Not in any condition to move. Somewhat totaled.
  3. Hi-Ace got its right headlight broken and few scratches.

I came out of the scene and rushed to the spot, thinking someone might be hurt. But thank the Almighty, everyone was alright except for minor injuries. There was a baby though of about 1 year ago in the Corolla who had blood in her mouth. Her mother also had a few scars on her faces but was worried about her daughter. Thankfully it was just a tooth cut and nothing major but most probably the mother wasn’t wearing seat belts and the baby was in her lap, thus the injuries.

Here, another disappointing thing to mention. Even though the Corolla owners admitted their mistake and were offering to pay the Hi-Ace driver (A Local person), still he was adamant that they do not go anywhere. He even did not agree to move the car sideways, and kept on saying “Police jab tak aa k khaka tyaar ni kerti gariyaan yunhi rahaingeen (Not unless police comes and make a sketch of the accident)”. Due to the accident, road got blocked and cars piled up on both sides, still the Hi-Ace driver did not budge.

I, along with many others requested the Hi-Ace driver to take a picture of the accident and show it to police when they arrive, but atleast move the cars to sides so that other cars may pass. After quite some time he agreed when finally a police person arrived.  People dragged the black corolla to the sides and the journey resumed. Here I would like to emphasize on some points

  1. Do not over-speed in hilly areas. Drive safely.
  2. Reduce speed at turns (that are usually blind). Signs are put and single, uninterrupted white line is painted on the road on bends and curves which means that it is illegal to overtake, due to obvious hazards of blind-spots.
  3. No UN-necessary overtaking, especially at turns or when frontal traffic is not visible.
  4. Children should be at the back seat and not front. Luckily the child escaped injury, but her face hit the dashboard. The result could have been Fatal as well.
  5. Always wear your seatbelt . The mother could have avoided injury if she wore a seat belt.
  6. If an accident does occur, primary concern should be the health of the people involved on both sides. If the baby had blood in her mouth, the Hi-Ace person should have atleast let one corolla go so that she could get medical attention. What if it was a stomach injury?. Damage to property (Car) is done; one should avoid further loss of life.
  7. If an accident occurs and the people are safe, then next concern is to clear the roads so that others may well be on their way. No use to quarrel as well as block the roads. You can also talk with your vehicles on the side.
  8. If the other person is admitting his mistake and willing to pay for damages, then let your EGO go and resolve the issue calmly and peacefully rather than shouting, abusing the threatening.

With all this, my request for people is to drive slow and sensibly, and safely (which especially includes point 4 and 5). So you can enjoy your vacations in hilly areas during these hot summers.

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20 Comments
  1. Ali Salman says

    you know had it been the hi ace driver's daughter people would have said "ameer dolat ke nashay mai mar gya hai aur ab bai his insan janay bhi nai dai raha"
    These people just have inferiority complex nothing else.

  2. Arshad Rana says

    Drive very safely even you are on straight road, for sake of your beloved.

  3. Farhan Ahmed Toor says

    Good share, thanks Mujtaba Abbas, appreciate the effort

  4. Mujtaba Abbas says

    Thank you =)

  5. Aamir Saeed says

    I would like to add that use heavy gear like first or second when coming down of the hills.

  6. Amir Iftikhar Warraich says

    I know this road and can only agree with the author about driving precautions. Fact is that many drivers are not familiar with hilly driving conditions and do speeding on slopes, overtaking in turns with no road space resulting in tragic accidents. My advice is to only do overtaking where you have a clear visibility a couple hundred feet ahead, never do it on close turns with no visibility. Else, use motor to brake, if you are driving downwards and you need to slow down, shift to 2nd or 1st gear to slow down. Many brakes fail and cars plummets into valleys because of brakes failing. LASTLY, please avoid too overloaded vehicles, 5 persons are plenty in a normal car, do not push 7-8 people, this will only put more burden and make the vehicle more vulnerable. Also, check brakes, tires, battery water, indicators/lights BEFORE you embark on a hilly summer vacation. Turn on the fog lights/dim lights and do a little horn when turns become narrower and slopes steeper. Enjoy!

  7. Waqas Waheed says

    good u thanks you

  8. Murtaza Abbas says

    Good awareness highlighting an important public awareness issue…the extra seconds you gain from speeding are not worth it.

  9. Nasir D Iftikar says

    Same precautions applied in EU..

  10. Gee Shaheer says

    murree ke locals bohat begairat hain, agar hiace wale ko us ke nuqsan ke paise mil rahe the to usko aur L chahye tha. hum punjabi bohat ache hain aur har ek ko apne lahore city mein kam karne dete hain lekin pathan outsiders ko bardasht ni karte.

  11. Ammar Malik says

    The title should be 'don't be an idiot when you're driving'. Overtaking on a blind turn is moronic whether you're on a hill or in a valley.

  12. Ammar Malik says

    "Works at Student"

    Nuff said.

  13. Fraz Nawaz says

    It is very important that in a hilly terrain one must stay in his lane,however, a little before the turn one may go slightly out of his lane. if you go slightly out of the lane before a turn, by the time you complete the turn you would be in your own lane. This is a mistake which most people from cities do when they are driving in the mountains. they try to stay in their own lane prior to the turn but while turning the car goes out of their own lane. This is what ive learned from years of driving in mountainous terrains. Regards

  14. Nauman Abbasi says

    please mind your language while writing comments while you are still "works at Student" your language is foul, abusive and offensive… there are good and bad people everywhere Murree and Lahore are no exceptions.

  15. Deevan Shaz Naveed says

    muree ke locals pathan nahi ha kmna

  16. Munir Ahmad says

    لوٹ آئی صدا میری ٹکرا کے پہاڑوں سے
    آپ نے بہترین طریقے سے سارا کیس بیان کیا ہے اور تدارک کے طریقے بھی بتائے لیکن مجھے اندازہ ہے کہ لوگ اس کے باوجود عمل نہیں کریں گے –اسی لئے اوپر والا شعر لکھا ہے
    تاہم ہمیں اپنا درس جاری رکھنا چاہئے ایک پر بھی آچر ہو جائے تو ہماری کامیابی ہے
    غالبا ٹرییفک کا ایک آسول یہ بھی ہے کہ جب سڑک دائیں جانب مڑتی ہی جارہی ہو تو اوؤر ٹیک نہ کریں کہ دائیں جانب کی اشیا ساتھ والی گاڑی کے سبب نظر نہیں آتیں
    آپ کے جذبے اور کوششوں کو ایک مرتبہ مزید سرہاتا ہوں

  17. Abid Khan says

    Brother i appreciate your efforts and respect them but u know whatever u told is what practiced by civilized nations. We dnt practice such things and its a pitty. You have got this good thinking which very few of us have.

  18. Autohub.pk says

    One important thing while diving on hilly areas that use engine braking during downhill ride and try to avoid use of too much pedal brakes. This helps keep the brakes cool that can be used where its extremely required.

  19. Albert Hassh says

    agree

  20. Shahab Nasir says

    this buffoon got 3 likes for his racist comment. Seems like he is not the only who 'works at student'

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