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CHANGE
Your ATTITUDE
And It will CHANGE
Your LIFE

May 2, 2010

Accident: #3

I almost ended up confirming my ticket to hell, which only got cancelled at the last moment with a bit of luck and a presence of mind.

I woke up in the middle of the night when the city was still sleeping and getting ready to report for an early morning shift.  The clock ticked by even as I waited to receive a missed call on my cell that would indicate that the pick up has arrived but it did not happen.  So after some time, I called up the transport supervisor who told me that the car had already left but he would call me back again to confirm it.

I decided to go down and stand on the road just in case the car was yet to arrive.  I got a call saying that the car has already reached but I could not see it, the roads were empty and there was no sound of the engine running that would indicate its presence.  It was only when I turned around and had a look at the car parked a few meters away from me that I realized that the pick up had indeed arrived with the driver sleeping inside the car.

I knocked on the window, which woke up the driver and then I got into front seat of the Indica which seemed a little shorter as the head touched the roof of the car.  I asked the driver if he could drive and he replied affirmatively.  He took his own time before he turned the ignition key and we were ready to go.  Everything was going fine until the driver took a U-turn.

I observed that the car had picked up the speed and then saw in front of us a tempo parked on the road which was small enough for two vehicles to pass through without slowing down.  The speed of the car refused to come down even as the distance between the car and the tempo was getting shorter.  I raised my voice at the driver who had fallen asleep behind the wheels.  My voice brought him back to his senses as he saw what lied ahead.  By then it was too late….

The car ended up hitting the tempo on the corner instead of a head on collision as the driver took a turn and hit the brakes.  The good thing was that I was alive and kicking and not much damage was caused.  This would not have been possible if the lower back door of the tempo which was open and down (covering the open space below it) which the car ended up hitting.  I would have  probably left this world as the level of the tempo stood at crushing my head if there was any impact minus the open lower back door.

On reaching office, the driver asked me not to report the matter, but I had little choice over there.  When others in office came to know about what happened, it was like a skeletons tumbling out of the closet. It seemed that they too had witnessed incidents of drivers falling asleep but it was never that fatal.

What happened the next day was something out of the blue.  I had again called up the transport supervisor who told me that pick-up should be arriving, only later to be called again and told that I would have to come by my own.  As I stood on the road, I saw the same driver waiting for me this time driving a bigger car like Tata Sumo.  It’s anybody’s guess on why the supervisor lied.  Needless to say I hopped on, and this time the driver was fully awake.

P.S.  I don’t blame the drivers for not getting enough sleep and ending up in accidents as they sometimes end up working 12-13hrs with the day/night difference not accounted for.  It’s for the people who handle them need to take care that they don’t end up jeopardizing the lives of other people, but who has the time to look at that.  If a driver did ended up in an accident they would simply shift him to some other place or would make sure that he doesn’t do the pick-up/drop for the same people.  It’s only in extreme cases, would they remove him.

I raised this issue with the management when feedback was being asked for transport improvement, but I only received an individually marked email from my superior appreciating my concern for raising the point.  One can guess what happened after that.

Read the comments from the previous post to the “accident” point and I must say that many people seem to read it wrong.  I did get injured but it was while riding a cycle as a kid.  I hope this clarifies it :).  The above incident is the closet that I have ever got to death.

14 comments:

Blunt Edges said...

whoaaaaaa...that's a close shave!

Grayquill said...

Yikes...I think I would drive in the future, if it isw allowed. Put the dirver in the back seat with a pillow so he can have a nap:)

Maya said...

quiet an escape, i had lots of accidents and have been lucky till now

Anonymous said...

Whoa..quite an escape I must say ..Well is that the reason you call yourself as Survivor ? ;)But i must appreciate your guts ...Even when you were close to that tempo , u tuk the foto !! Great yaar !!:D

Anonymous said...

Ah..This post was nostalgia to me..Although I have *knockwood* never been in an accident..Thank God you were unhurt..

The management of MNC's really just blindly listen to whatever rubbish the transport supervisors feed them..Is it because most of the management are not locals? I wonder....

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Phew, U escaped with a whisper! I'm very happy to know that nothing untoward happened!

rohini said...

so close................

Winnie the poohi said...

I have seen many such incidents in bangalore.. u know what? Recently i was talking to this driver and he said that the rule is that every driver has to complete minimum 400km every day.. else he cant go home.. how much ever late it is!

Sh@s said...

Glad to know that u escaped unscathed. You have raised a valid point hope it does not go unheard.

Tall Guy said...

@ Blunt Edges

Yeah it was :)

@ Grayquill

Yeah, I would do the same; saves the trouble :)

Tall Guy said...

@ Uncommon Sense

Hmm, would like to hear about that.

@ DreamyGal

Nope, that not the reason. That is just a representation pic :)

Tall Guy said...

@ Choco

Nostalgia?? How come

The problem is that nobody goes into these issues unless something happens. Nobody is bothered about their lives and how it ends up affecting ours.

@ Rakesh

Thank Mate, just to let you know this incident took years back.

Tall Guy said...

@ Rohini

Yup it was

@ Winnie

That is true.

Tall Guy said...

@ Shas

I did my part but it was of no use...