How I had a narrow escape in an accident involving 2 buses & an Activa

INR 7411/- is what a small hit from a careless BMTC costed me (and other damage done to other parties), but I do not regret at all.

BHPian sasta_rider recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Escaped Narrowly from a Major Accident involving 2 BMTCs and an Activa

Never ever in my dreams I had thought that I would one day face this: hence 'accident' is termed as 'accident'!

It was 04-Mar-2025 (Tuesday) 03:25 pm and I was returning from office after finishing my morning shift. I was not tired in any way, my mind was calm until few minutes before this fell in place! Where? How? Whom?

Below is the schematic diagram of the accident site, to those who are not aware about Bengaluru!

This happened exactly in front of Whitefield Police Station (WFPS). While returning from office, I avoid the Hopefarm junction due to traffic but instead, take the pathetic Dinnur Main road towards Hoskote (marked in red in the above image). This road joins the Whitefield-Hoskote road. At this junction, there are two options (A and B) to enter this road:
A: through the narrow service road (which is almost as wide as a BMTC bus, so overtaking is not possible till WFPS).
B: The road that comes from the Hopefarm side which is quite wide.

I usually join main road (option B), slide through traffic and arrive at a bottle neck: this is the starting of Kadugodi bridge. Oh wait, Bengaluru is full of bottle necks and the government is least bothered, trust me. This is the same story in every metro city I believe!

This unfortunate day, I happened to take the service road (option A) and a blue BMTC was ahead of me. Going at crawling speed, I was behind this bus and no way for I can overtake from either sides. Left side I have drainage and on the right side, metro pillar of the purple line. A rider in his Activa was behind me. He was not wearing a helmet, if I recall correctly. Behind him was this monster green BMTC which was the epicenter of this accident.

As WFPS arrived, I got clearance on either side of the blue BMTC ahead. I was about to take left and overtake, but heard a loud "BANG" from behind and when I saw the right side rear view mirror, I could see the Activa rider being thrown up in the air, and by the time I could act, I was hit from the rear. I gained a little momentum (I was below 10 kmph) and lost control. Hit the barricade that was placed on the left and fell. Good thing was, that momentum pushed us (R15 and myself) out of its path, while the green BMTC had not come to a halt yet. A second "BANG" followed and this was when he hit the blue BMTC ahead. And mind you, the windshield of green BMTC is cracked on the driver side, because I assume he also hit the metro pillar before ramming the Activa rider. Below are the pictures what followed after this:

Observe the itched paint on the bumper near to number plate? That hit me from behind and pushed us to the side of the road due to momentum gain!

My adrenalin rushed, I forgot about my fallen R15 for few seconds, woke up, went and banged the door of the green BMTC asking the driver to open the door. I knew beating him would not change whatever had happened already but I was very short tempered. I have been hating these BMTCs since a long time. Mannerless, careless and third class driving on the road with no road discipline!

Now comes the horrifying part: I could see the Activa stuck under the rear bumper of the blue BMTC. While the rider was not visible anywhere nearby! That's when one of the traffic cop asked this green BMTC to reverse and there the rider was, under the bus: bleeding, beating his hands/legs to the road and struggling for breathe! A sight that made me more traumatic. After locals assembled, I did not want to help and I could not even look at whatever was happening around as I myself was trying to digest what just happened!

Then, I lifted my poor R15, fired up the engines after verifying there were no fluid leaks and parked near the WFPS. What shocked me is, even after a fall and being dragged for a meter, no warnings on the instrument cluster (I expected it to be there but it was not). Japanese survival skill or just luck, you decide! I was able to start, put the gear (not normally though) and park aside with no struggle.

Damages the R15 and myself had:

• Clutch lever along with the clutch mount to the handlebar was bent facing the ground at 45 degree from its normal position.
• Front left indicator had snapped from the inside and was hanging loose.
• Left fairing had some scratches along with the front visor. Scratches on the visor was from the badass road barricade.
• Gear shift level was bent towards the inner side. This is what I noticed and did not dive in to much detail.
• My right side thumb got a small slit like wound, which has healed right now. No fractures, no ligament injury, no dislocation: thank goodness!

And below are the pictures of my R15: from the accident site and later that day when I reached Vinayak Yamaha, Domlur:

Left rear view mirror took some scratch along with the left edge of the visor.

This was taken at accident site. Look at handing indicator and the frame slider bent upwards. My respect to OEM frame sliders just increased even more!

Silencer with the green mark, from the green BMTC's bumper.

I did not have the state of mind to capture my bike's lying-on-tarmac picture at the time I fell. Hence, no picture of that!

The Activa rider was taken to Axxis hospital immediately. The green BMTC driver, fearing the locals, ran inside the police station and was in full shock: crying over what he (unknowingly) did. After an hour of staying there and talking to the police, who had clicked my bike's pictures, I asked "sir, shall I leave? My bike is in running condition, will need few part replacements which I can bear I believe". He replied "no, you visit Mahadevapura Police Station (MPS) and speak to the higher rank police there and then proceed. Since four parties are involved, what they advise must be considered". I exchanged my number, briefed him how exactly this incident fell in place and then left towards MPS.

At MPS, I was given two options by the senior officer:

• If I can manage the expenses of my bike myself, step out of this accident without an FIR. He did not force me, but was trying to make me understand. Do not misinterpret me here please. I did not bribe anyone here as I was not at fault.

OR

• If I want to get the money in the form of insurance and compensation for the trauma, I am free to file an FIR immediately. But at my current situation, I too do not wish myself to run after these government officials: either by myself or via an agent. Additionally, I was informed that the expense I need to invest in this option might be more than what I might get. Neither I wanted to run after all these drama. The Activa rider needed this more than me because of the kind of injury he had and his vehicle's condition.

Trust me, R15 was still ready to clock miles. But what was not normal was the clutch lever and gear shift lever. Ride till MPS itself gave ache to my left wrist and left thighs due to the abnormal positioning of the gear shift and clutch lever.

As I reached Domlur, job card was initiated and was attended by Mr. Mahesh (SA). He advised me not to change any parts except for the front left indicator unit and the clutch lever. He is the SA and I agreed to whatever he said. For the gear shifter, he informed that they will remove the bend manually and bring back to normal shape. I agreed to this as well. Scheduled delivery was supposed to be on 06-Mar-2025 (Thursday).

On 06-Mar, I went to Domlur, paid the amount and went for a acceptance ride. The ride still felt like I am riding the R15 which had met with the fateful accident: for gear shifts above 2nd, my feet had to travel all the way up for the gear to engage: painful and not at all normal. I asked the SA to get this fixed and replace if needed. Below is the first job card bill I paid which did not fix the bike as I expected:

SA called the mechanic, who informed that the maximum bend has been corrected manually. Next option is replacement, as manual 'jugaad' will break the part if hit anymore. This is when SA informed me that even the quick-shifter was bent and not the gear shift lever alone. I went, checked the quick-shifter and oh boy: the bigger expense was just lying in front of me!

The same day, another job card was opened for the quick-shifter replacement along with the gear shift lever. Thankfully, the part was in stock but I still don't know what made them take 3.5 working days to get this only job done!

On 10-Mar-2025 (Monday), I went at around 04:00 pm, and my R15 was not even touched for this job. Before going, I had called SA: "sir, I am coming from Whitefield and I need my bike today no matter what!". He immediately asked one of the mechanic to work and get my ride back to running as usual. In 2 hours time, I got the bike fixed. Paid the 'HEFTY' bill, went for a ride and took the delivery! This is how the second job card turned out:

INR 7411/- is what a small hit from a careless BMTC costed me (and other damage done to other parties), but I do not regret at all. After all, I am spending this on something which has always been there during my needs!

Look at the circled part with the thread and the bent guidance line for you to understand the kind of damage it took. This cannot be repaired with 'jugaad' and I too wanted to get this replaced with brand new one to avoid future troubles in any way!

Post Accident Thoughts:

R15 is no longer giving me the brand new feel anymore. Maybe this small accident has left a dent on my mind or am I just overthinking: I do not know!

All these years, I ensured no damage occurs to R15 due to my mistake/negligence on road and last three years were awesome with this machine, no regrets. But moving forward after this accident, is becoming concerning for my parents when I informed them about this 2 days after the accident. I have a family who always wish I reach my destination safely and at the same time, I do love touring on R15: it has become difficult for me to decide now. Upgrading to a higher capacity bike is very hard as you all know the typical Indian family mentality "isma toh ek second hand Wagon-R aa jata" (translate to: you can buy a second hand Wagon-R with the price of a higher capacity bike)! In fact, convincing to get the R15 itself was a challenge for me three years ago but now, I am wondering what lies ahead!

Thankfully, I am all safe and what damage I should have got, was taken by my machine is what I can say!

Last but not the least: To all those who are reading this, especially to those who commute at Bengaluru, stay as away as possible from a BMTC ahead/behind you, for your good and let your dear ones be aware as well. They are just getting more pathetic on the roads!

Ride safe!

Sud.

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