Dodged an accident. (My fault)
Last night, I finally understood why my parents always advise me not to ride late at night on hill roads. And probably one of the most famous lines from every father: "When you're riding, just assume that others on the road are blind idiots—you should be the one with eyes and a working brain."
I had gone trekking with my friends, but due to heavy rain, we decided to call it off and return since we didn’t have enough protection against the weather. In the hurry, I didn’t change into my riding boots and instead rode my bike wearing my barefoot shoes (made of waterproof cloth, with no sole or foam but a strong grip).
It was around midnight when I was about to reach my society, but I decided to stop for fuel. After refueling, I continued riding home.
For context, I live near Mussoorie, where cab drivers are some of the worst on the road—they never drive slowly, nor do they go more than five seconds without honking or flashing their lights.
While riding back, a cab driver behind me started honking and blinking his headlights, signaling that he wanted to overtake. I was already at 60 km/h, so I moved further to the left to let him pass. Just then, a Fortuner suddenly entered the main road from a narrow side street without even checking for traffic. Upon seeing two vehicles approaching, instead of either moving forward or reversing, they just stopped awkwardly in the middle of the road.
I slammed both brakes hard, and thanks to the dual ABS, the bike didn’t lose balance or skid on the wet road. But the cab driver still didn’t slow down—he overtook both of us from the right at full speed.
Pressing the brake and quickly shifting gears with my barefoot shoes definitely hurt my foot. But I was at fault too—riding without proper boots, on a wet road, in the rain, at 60-70 km/h, even though the road was mostly empty. I should have considered the risks.
The people inside the Fortuner looked about my age and didn’t seem to care, so I didn’t waste my time lecturing a bunch of idiots. I acknowledge my mistake and will definitely ride safer from now on. (But I won’t stop riding at night.)
Last night, I finally understood why my parents always advise me not to ride late at night on hill roads. And probably one of the most famous lines from every father: "When you're riding, just assume that others on the road are blind idiots—you should be the one with eyes and a working brain."
I had gone trekking with my friends, but due to heavy rain, we decided to call it off and return since we didn’t have enough protection against the weather. In the hurry, I didn’t change into my riding boots and instead rode my bike wearing my barefoot shoes (made of waterproof cloth, with no sole or foam but a strong grip).
It was around midnight when I was about to reach my society, but I decided to stop for fuel. After refueling, I continued riding home.
For context, I live near Mussoorie, where cab drivers are some of the worst on the road—they never drive slowly, nor do they go more than five seconds without honking or flashing their lights.
While riding back, a cab driver behind me started honking and blinking his headlights, signaling that he wanted to overtake. I was already at 60 km/h, so I moved further to the left to let him pass. Just then, a Fortuner suddenly entered the main road from a narrow side street without even checking for traffic. Upon seeing two vehicles approaching, instead of either moving forward or reversing, they just stopped awkwardly in the middle of the road.
I slammed both brakes hard, and thanks to the dual ABS, the bike didn’t lose balance or skid on the wet road. But the cab driver still didn’t slow down—he overtook both of us from the right at full speed.
Pressing the brake and quickly shifting gears with my barefoot shoes definitely hurt my foot. But I was at fault too—riding without proper boots, on a wet road, in the rain, at 60-70 km/h, even though the road was mostly empty. I should have considered the risks.
The people inside the Fortuner looked about my age and didn’t seem to care, so I didn’t waste my time lecturing a bunch of idiots. I acknowledge my mistake and will definitely ride safer from now on. (But I won’t stop riding at night.)