an Accident case......

i recently met with an major accident...when an speeding elantra (must be around 100-120 kmph) banged in my rear (i10)..the impact was so great that my car turned 180 degrees and stoped on divider....luckily there was no one in rear seat....since me and my father was belted in front seat ..we were firmly secured by seat belts..so much so that we did not even felt the impact (again underlinening importance of using seat belts)... lucky to have escape unscrached

 i did slow down on highway to a point that my car was almost about to stop to decided whether to take flyover or not....the accident spot was between two flyover..and i was in the right lane dedicated for cars..my brake signal were on and it was daytime..

i wanted to know who was at fault...considering the speed limit was 60 kmph....the road was almost empty and the car could have easily overtaken me from left.....i had slowed down for considerable amount of time (3-4 min). should i have used caution blinkers to warn the driver?...is it an offence to stop on right lane on highway?

Sorry to hear about the incident. Thanks to god that nothing happened to you and your Father.

I am not well versed with the traffic rules, going by instincts the right lane is the fast track. It would not be good to stop on that lane as you will be having speeding cars on that lane. A caution blinker should have been lighted in this case.

If we forget the speed limit then you are fault as you stopped on the right lane without caution signal and it was at the night. The other driver would find it difficult to judge. Still I feel he could have stopped seeing the brake light.

Thank God that you & your father escaped unhurt.  It was mainly due to the seat belts (thanks to your habit of wearing those).  As such, such collisions (from rear) are not very critical.

Notwithstanding the speed limit & the brake lights your car had, primarily you were at fault.  You should have moved to the inner lane before slowing down / braking. 

The primary impact of this collision would have pinned back the front seat occupants of the i10 onto their seats (i.e., the car would have been thrown forward by the impact from the rear). So the seat belts probably did not play a critical role in helping the occupants esacape from the primary impact. However, the seat belts would have helped in protecting the occupants from any secondary impacts, e.g. when the car spun around, slammed into the dividar and came to a halt.

I feel, if they were not wearing the seat belts, they would have hit the steering/dashboard due to the rear impact (primary).  The seat belts must have also saved them from secondary impacts.

@Pankaj: Due to the impact on the i10 from the rear, the car would have jerked forward. As far as the front seat occupants are concerned, this is like a strong burst of acceleration, which will pin them back to their seats. The front seat occupants of the Elantra, on the other hand, would have been saved by their seat-belts from the primary impact (and the probable sudden braking prior to that), which would have abruptly decelerated the Elantra (and hence caused the occupants to collide with the dashboard/steering unless they were restrained by seat belts).

After the primary impact, the i10 got thrown forward, spun around and hit the divider. The secondary impact with the divider would have abruptly stopped the i10, and now the seat belts would have played a role in preventing the occupants of the i10 from hitting the dashboard/steering. Even during the spin-around, the seat belts would have helped in preventing injuries to the front seat occupants.

Yes, you have a point - the first & foremost impact.

The movement into the seat is correct but then soon afterwards the bodies will be bounced forward as a reaction to the initial movement.

So for the initial part the seat back and the head restraints played a part and for the subsequent rebound the seat bets would have been of critical importance.

Pratik-sorry to hear about the crash-thnak God that you both are fine.

What happened to the car? What happened to the passengers on the Elantra.

Accepted as total loss - here it is.

The rule is that you should keep the left side of the road while driving even if it is four lane. The right lane is for overtaking purpose alone. Also, it is an offence to overtake along the left side of the vehicle, unless the vehicle to be overtaken has given right turn signal with hand or indicator.

Lucky that the road had divider, otherwise there was good chance of being hit by vehicles speeding in the opposite direction.

Hope the Elantra passengers also escaped unhurt. The driver might not have seen the brake light as it was day time. Also one will not expect a vehicle to be stopped in the middle of the road, and due to the speed could not control it. If nobody is hurt and the cars are covered under insurance, there is no point in discussing who had erred. Any how it is better to follow traffic rules and regulations while on street not only for the safe of ourselves but also for the sake of others.