A lesson why one shouldn’t speed in hilly areas

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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