The Scary experiences thread

[tsk1979]

Since most of us are tourers on this forum, I am sure not everything goes according to the plan.
Sometimes there are breakdowns, sometimes accidents, sometimes law and order problems etc.,
So please post your "bad experience" here. It could be from your Manali Leh trip, or just a normal highway trip.
I am posting mine first
---------------
Cruising around 90, I notice that all electronics(Blower, clock, stereo) are erratic and losing power.
I stop the car, check out the battery terminals etc., and decide to drive towards Delhi(already crossed Karnal toll booth).
Stop at a garage at Panipat. By this time power is all but lost. Nothing is working, no lights etc.,
The guy says, alternator totally gone. Its a sunday and past 5. At that moment I am in a true dilemma. Delhi is 100+kms away with home still 150kms away. What to do?

Take a bad decision. Drive towards delhi and find a taxi stand close to border.
Soon its getting dark. The car is without power. I am sweating. tucked behind a truck without lights, I don't know how far can we drive like this.
when the battery fully goes, the car will also shut down because alternator is totally dead.
Then it happens, the car shuts down and I coast to a stop about 300mts ahead of a dhaba. Its dark, and scary. News reports of cars being looted haunt me. Luckily there is a steady stream of trucks going by.
I manage to stop a truck, but he has no tow rope.
I push the car 300 mts back, to the dhaba. the owner is a helpful guy who offers to call up mechanics etc., but sunday evening, all shops are closed.
then he suggests we wait. His dhaba is 24 hours and if we want we can wait till morning. He tells us lots of Sumo taxis stop by and maybe we can negotiate with some guy to take us till Delhi border from the taxi stand there we can hire a cab to tow us.

Unfortunately nobody is agreeing. The border is 35kms away still.

At that point a Tempo traveller comes loaded with families.
We both go and explain to them our dilemma. all of them agree to help us. I get the tow rope ready.
Once we are going to tie and all, one guy in the party disagrees. He says their speed will be reduced.

The dhaba owner tells us that 10-15kms ahead there is a taxi stand.
I request him to tow us till there atleast, its only 10kms, at most it will waste their 10 minutes.
But he insists on being a jerk.
"We are doing 90-100 speed, with you we can do only 60, so even 10km we lose time".

At that point I know he is of that category of people who abhor helping others.

The Dhaba owner tells us that he will try contacting taxi guys from his village, meanwhile we can try asking others from help.
Many sumo's etc., come there, but nobody is willing to help us.
Then a veera from Faridabad comes, and he cheerfully tells us, why the border, I will tow you till noida, tie your indica to my alto!
Unfortunately he has no tow hook at the back of alto. He offers to take us home, and we can pick up the car next morning.
home is 90kms away and I am not too keen on leaving the car like this in the middle of nowhere.
We thank him, and he goes on his way.

Its past 8 and we are desperate. Meanwhile the dhaba owner has arranged for an indigo who will tow us home for 1700rs. Bargain hard and he agrees for 1500.

20 minutes later the indigo comes. Its a brand new car, with no tow hook!
Again its a fix. those guys make more calls, and finally around 8 we have a Mahindra bolero with two blokes.
They are ready for 1300rs.
We tie the car, and off we go.
The tow rope is a make shift one made from fence wire(plain one) so only 5 feet long.
the two blokes don't know abcd of towing and are speeding away to glory.
And I am at the steering wheel, 5 feet away from the rear of a bolero, with no power in the brakes, my ankles paining as I have my eyes glued to the brake light(one is working in the bolero).
Every minor brake by the guy means I have to literally stand on the pedal.
When he pulls away it means a harsh jerk.
After 30 minutes I am badly drowsy an fatigued. My legs are aching like hell, and home is still 2-3 hours away.
Thankfully we reach the bypass without the rope breaking. But I am fatigued like crazy and the red lights help me regain some composure.
Its midnight when we finally reach noida, thanks to the two blokes who came like angels out of nowhere!
In 85K kms of driving this is the first time the car has broken down like this. It sure was a scary drive, esp since it was just me and my wife.
Few years ago I saw Kurt Russel's movie "Breakdown". Memories of that movie made the whole thing even scarier!

 

[darth_lucifer]

I had one when I was surrounded by con men at ajmer.Fool with whom i was travelling invited enuf of them and abused one of them.

Trust me they were very very aggressive.


anyone has had a spooky experience here???

 

[ramkya1]

RED DUMPER / T-REX

Hai,

I think it was in 03/04 on our way to Shimla/Cehl on our Santro for our Diwali driving holiday, the NH from A'bad to Udaipur was being 4 tracked. We were novices in long distance travel, me wife, 2 sons, 12-13 years and 6-7 years in the back seat, broke journey at Udaipur, Jaipur, Delhi, ChDH, Shimlal etc., were scared to do long distance, doing 300-400 KM a day was a great high!!!!

Start @ 6 AM @ 830 AM, long past Shamlaji towards Udaipur, lots of consruction trucks on the ghat section, 4 track work going on, one side dug out, 15-20 feet abrupt drop, gravel road on a S-bend, steep climb, following a truck @ about 10-15 Kmph, jam of a sort, line of trucks in front, endless line of trucks grinding up behing me, sand-witched into a crawling snarl.

Some hindi track soft on the sterio, mildly relaxed, eyes off the traffic in front, looking right, amazed at the power of the caterpillerl bull-dozer boring out the mountainside....sudden small red flare in the brain... wrong patterns emerging from the right corner of the eye, red flare in the brain balooning big, brain-bells tolling now.. turning into a banshee.... heart going pit-a-pit, still not understanding what the heck is amiss. Frantic eyes looking at traffic pattern ahead trying to understand... freeze frame... something wrong with red colour dumper in front 6-7 feets, GOD... it's ROLLING BACK slowly but surely towards me, something about it is out of kelter!!!!! Wife, kids screaming/ shouting, don't know what they were saying........everything happenes in about 5 seconds.

Slam on the brakes....... still frozen.. stopped now, not knowing what to do, remember clearly, my mouth was agape.... the dumper moving meanicingly now... 4 feets, 3, 2.. the gap is narrowing fast, I could sense the dumper is moving fast aided by gravity. I unfreeze, crash into reverse, and jerk backward, another truck which has not seen any of these is boring down and up towards me, sees me, brakes hard, I pass him reversing and again brake hard, there was another car coming up behind, sound of screaming tyres all around. The mad dumper turns wildly away towards my left, missing the lorry & our car by 2 feets, falls into the 15/20 feet chasm with a huge thud!!!!

Lord love a duck.... screeching brakes, people running around.... I am still glued to my set, gripping the wheel tightly.. unble to move. Slowly open the door.. try to walk, rubber legs.... tottering... hold on the the car.... someone holds me.. its the truck driver behind me, he had stopped and jumpepd out sure the dumper is going to hit him!!! My numb brain creates a sensible pattern..........

The dumper boring towards me was DRIVERLESS, being TOWED by another truck in front and the tow rope had snapped!!! Fortunately for us, it veered off us and fell into the dug out portion. If I had been 5 seconds late in reaction or had frozen on my tracks or if that truck had slammed into us, we would have been history, part of NH statistics, good-bye to all ramky travalogues

Some car drivers, taxi drivers rush towards the driver on the towing truck, shouting, drunk driver, argument erupts, somebody drag him out of the cabin and start beating him, truck drivers join in, big commotion. All I can do is watch like a Zombi, something like PTS (post traumatic shock). My wife says.. lets go, I don't remember getting into the car, starting the car or driving for the next 15 minutes. We stop on the Guj /Raj border at a small shop, I have 2 black teas, back to almost normal. I was pretty well shaken & stirred, it was a close brush. This day is permenantly etched in slow-motion, will always remember the red dumper like T-Rex bearing down on me!!!!

After this, when I drive on any climbing road, with packekd traffic, I never inch up close to any vehicle, always give a gap. This could be subconscious stupdity; I think its better to be stupid and safe than sorry!!

--Ramky

 

[anupmathur]

Re: RED DUMPER / T-REX

Well well, Ramky, that was quick thinking! Or good reflexes, because there is no time to think in such situations!

After this, when I drive on any climbing road, with packekd traffic, I never inch up close to any vehicle, always give a gap. This could be subconscious stupdity; I think its better to be stupid and safe than sorry!!

There is no stupidity here. The stupidity lies with those who FAIL to keep well clear of the vehicle in front, particularly in the mountains!
What I hate is when some idiot starts tailgating my car! I always allow them to pass, even if I need to pull over.

 

[ramkya1]

Re: RED DUMPER / T-REX

Well well, Ramky, that was quick thinking! Or good reflexes, because there is no time to think in such situations!

There is no stupidity here. The stupidity lies with those who FAIL to keep well clear of the vehicle in front, particularly in the mountains!
What I hate is when some idiot starts tailgating my car! I always allow them to pass, even if I need to pull over.

Yes I agree, I've become conscious about this only after that incident.

I'v'e changed many of my driving habits over only the last 4 years or so, in retrospect some of them real stupid like giving chase and getting drawn in to a race. I used to be dangerously aggressive in driving putting myself and others in danger, honest confessions Now-a-days, I'm much more sedate and sane and tend to enjoy the drive more than get it spoiled by some idiot on the road trying to play Mr.Invincible.

--Ramky

 

[Praful]

Scary Experience 1:

I'm newbie when it comes to biking/touring/etc, so even a small problem like this seems scary too me. And believe me I was really really scared when this had happened.

I was doing my regular Chennai-Bangalore runs for servicing my bike
at AutoService, Bangalore. This was almost a 2 monthly affair as I would go down to Bangalore for every alternate service.

I usually start early hours from Chennai to reach Bangalore around the time the Service centre opens up. Somewhere off Vellore the 'Low-battery' icon starts glowing. Now let me tell you that my bike then had not even touched 10K kms and was lesser than 6 months old. Me thinks, this was one of the usual sensor panga's. I switch off, reboot I feel the fuel pump sound a little funny..Now I'm a bit scared... I switch off lights (It dawn and can make out the road ahead) and continue to ride without using any of electricals (horn, pass light,etc).

But the low battery inon still persists. Somewhere off Krishnagiri, the bike
starts to have 'spasms'. Something quite similar to what had happens when your bike is running out of fuel. Ok now I was scared, and at that moment I thought that I had to rev hard to get whatever little juice to keep it running. So I was basically moving at somewhere close to 40-50kmph with opening the throttle and closing it and clutching and de-clutching. Would have been a really funny sight to a bystander, but it was scary coz I din't know what I would do if the bike totally gave up with Bangalore still 75kms ahead of me.

The bike totally gave up after some 50kms...luckily for me I was already in town and felt a lot more safer. After the bike come to complete stop I tried to do the same shutdown and reboot. But nothing, the display just din't come back on. I opened it up to see if the battery terminal had come loose or if a fuse had blown. Nothing there too, so I just pushed the bike the rest of the distance till the service centre.

Fast forward, to AutoService where they rightly find the RR unit at fault. They replace it...and on my way back same story repeats itself...only this time push the bike a little longer, in little more hotter climate!

Finally it was pinpointed that along with the RR unit malfunctioning,
there was some fungus/rusting along the grounding for the battery
which was leading to complete discharge of the battery. Which meant no fuel pump and which meant no bike!

Till date that trip would forever remain in my memory as the one of my scariest experiences.


Scary Experience 2:

After that last trip I did not ride to Bangalore for quite sometime I was naturally scared. Anyways finally I did make a small trip but this was for meeting up with my gf and back to Chennai the same day. The onward journey was nothing short of great. I had broken my personal best record for riding nonstop, nothing too big but I did 357kms from home till my friends home non-stop in 4.5 hours. Anyways, all this and without any hiccups meant that I had exorcised my last trips devils. But the return journey had something else in store for me.

I visited Nandi hills and came back, had lunch and started to leave town. I did not want to do the Krishnagiri-Vellore GQ highway as its downright boring. So I took the shorter, but more desolate and worser road surface, single lane and more beautiful route through Kolar.

Somewhere off Kolar with Bangalore rougly 50kms behind me, there was this white Safari Dicor speeding and wanting to overtake me. I was also rushing to cover as much distance as possible before sundown as it would be really difficult to ride after that with oncoming glare of headlights.

I in 4th gear doing about 100, the safari guy also going alongside, I knew I would shoot ahead once I slot in 5th, so I waiting for the bike to reach its sweet spot before I shift. Once there, I pull back the clutch to move up into 5th, something felt funny. I just did not use any force to pull the clutch and it did not return to its position. A second or two later realization struck that the cable had snapped. With the Safari wala chasing, I had to do some counteractive moves to avoid being hit from behind. Anyways managed to come to stop safely on the side of the road, bike skidded to halt as it was still in some gear. I get off to inspect, and the saw that the cable had snapped right at the place where it joins the lever. I was literally cursing Bajaj for 5 minutes there. I remember passing the last village more than 15kms back, with daylight quickly fading I decided to ride on. Some got the bike to neutral and started it, after that it was clutchless shifts till I reached a village which was luckily just about 4-5kms ahead. And as luck would have there was a spare parts shop open. He put a scooter clutch cable I could ride again with the clutch.

I rode slowly from here onwards, the total time I took for my return journey of 330kms was close to 7 hours.

____________________________________________________


I know these issue are really really small, especially compared to what a few people have must have faced. But as a newbie (still am one!), these two experience had left me quite scared when in the middle of it. But all that trouble was not for nothing, today I always carry a spare clutch/accelerator cable set. Always make it a point to check whatever I can before a ride.

 

[pulsurge]

Re: RED DUMPER / T-REX

That was a freaking scary experience.....could relive the whole episode..hollywood movie ishtyle. Thank god..phew.

 

[hmasalia]

This thing happened on 27th of June 08, it was posted on another forum, where I am a regular.......

Guys after returning from Masjid last Night
We Friends (Around 7 of us including my wife) went to have coffee after which we decided to go Off Road Country Ride sine it was raining and wanted to exprience the country side during the rains.

After going around 7 KM into the village side, we were stopped by around 4-8 lathi clad men , we were scared & tried to go pass them and got thru around 6 people when we realised they were more than 100 people with Lathi, Axe, Knifes etc.
We came to a halt after they broke our Windows & seriously dented the car with their axes & bamboo sticks, they seems to be quite angry & threatened us with dire consequences they checked our cars for some child which had been kidnapped earlier in the evening, (lately they have had 4 kidnappings in the village) with the victims found dead after removing their vital organs like Kidneys & eyes etcs.
They misbehaved initially since we dared to pass thru them without stopping, but only after they realised that we had a lady my wife with us, they got in line & started talking politely asking us why we had taken the off road & not taken the highway & what we were doing in the middle of the night. couple of men were drunk & would not let us pass, also since being on the country side we did'nt have any network singal on any of the Hutch/Reliance/Airtel Phones.
My only concern was for my wife safety, which had my fustrated & angry
It was only after convincing them for 2.5 hours we managed to borrow someones cell phone (BSNL) we called up couple of friends asking them to come down with the police, which again took around 30 Mins for them to follow up on our tracks.....
So finally at 1 o clock the police arrived, took down our records & convince the villagers to let us pass..

All I can say it, it was one hell of a Night... & off roading exprience which will take a long time for me & my friends to forget.....

I pity those villagers for their plight (espcially for that Child (Named: Aparna) who was kidnapped that evening, hope he has a safe return.
Please pray for him guys!

 

[kamikaze]

Good to see you are ok.

Sometimes you never know what you might get into. I have had a scary moment myself. i was driving to Mandava in Rajasthan with my chachi and her family (its her village) and my sister (cousin) was sitting in front. It was almost night and two people on either side of the road waved to us and as I slowed down, they started to stare into the car. I did not stop and accelerated as fast I could. Luckily the road was good and I told everyone that I am going to drive 100+ for sometime so do not be scared. Only stopped when we reached her place.

Hope that littel girl get back before she or anyone else gets hurt

 

[Explore_the_world]

My scariest experience was somewhat 'stupid' as well. It happened near jalandhar while returning from our trip to Dalhousie, HP. We're fantastic 4 on 2 bikes, honda unicorn and super splendor. Just an hour away from home, cruising at nice speed, eating the dust, our super splendor gave up and stalled right in the middle of the road. It never had any issues for past 2 days in the mountains, pulling nicely at hairpin bends and sailing smoothly. Rohit (owner of bike) said it might have over heated and needs a break. So we fetched it to a roadside dhaba and splashed water on the engine. Waited for few minutes, had tea and snacks. It started after some kicking and cussing. Few KMS into the ride and off it goes again. Same old thing, more water, cooled it off and on the road again. Few more miles, and off it goes.

Before I continue, let me tell you the scary part. Now the bike stalled on the outskirts of a town called 'Bhogpur', where my maamu lives. Instead of asking for help, I wanted to bypass him without leaving any trace. WHY?? Here's the deal! We told our parents that we're doing this trip on a friend's CAR, 4 wheels! If my maamu finds out about this we're pretty much DEAD. Now the problem is his store is right on the main road and one can be easily seen pushing a bike at snail's pace. So I asked my friend that I'll go on unicorn as fast as possible and see them on the other side of town. Soon
I reach the main market, right in front of his store, another relative on mine pulls along on his bike. Before he could notice me I sped away from his eyes. 'Bala tali'!!

Re-united with my friends on the other end. Now we decided to drag the bike with no cord available around there. Pelan: pillion on unicorn will hold driver's hand on splendor and fetch it! Sounds silly? Yes it was! And I was the unfortunate driver. Jalandhar is only 15-20 KMS form there, an easy 15 minutes ride on a 4 lane highway. It felt like eternity and took us more than an hour with god knows may be 50 butt breaks.

On the outskirts of jalandhar our dear rohit bhaji were inspecting the bike to see if he could find what's wrong with it. Guess what? Here's the conversation...
Rohit: Hahahaha...LOL..
Me: Kya hua? Has kyun raha hai? Mari to lag gayi hai!
Rohit: Problem pata lag gayi!
Me: badi jaldi pata chal gayi, thodi der ruk jaate!
Rohit: yaar, bike ko RESERVE lagana BHOOL gaya!
Me, buddies: Teri...CENSORED! Kicks and punches were flying all over the place. By passers grew concerned and came to his rescue just to find out it was all a 'friendly' fight!

We sat there laughing and thinking how silly it all was. Now we're tired and drained to death but noone wanted to go home. Finally, rohit bhaisahab put the bike on reserve and we're RIDING once again. Came home exhausted but content nonetheless.