Palio catches fire after collision with truck, 3 dead

[tsk1979]

In new delhi a Fiat Palio collidied with a dump truck coming the wrong way. Immediately after the collision the car caught fire and as the doors got jammed, they could not be opened, leading to death of passengers. Seems line a lot of sheet metal may not be enough to prevent tragedy!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1411743.cms

[khaadu75]

tsk1979, U beat me to it .. I was about to post the same myself though for a slightly different reason !! Its a very sad incident and again goes to show how callous people in our country are .. the dumpster was coming the wrong way and totally his fault and 3 innocent people lost their lives .. The driver shud be hanged ... only way people might learn ...

My main reason for wanting to post this was due to a conversation I had with the a senior guy at Vivek Auto about a month back ... According to him Fiat ensures that all the cars are treated to some kind of treatment which makes the car fire proof !! He said that dealers had advised the company for ending this treatment as it cost the company about 40-45K per car and if they stopped this then the prices could be dropped by that amount and would make the Fiat cars attractive . The company responded by saying that they would rather not sell cars than stop the so called treatment to the cars ... ANd now I read this !! I wonder what happened to that fire proof statement .. and the news states that they got charred in the first few minutes itself so there is something strange somewhere .... Wonder where though ???

Anyone else heard about this fire proof treatment in Fiat cars ???

Cheers

PS -- A very sad end for no fault of theirs !!

[RX135]

I vaguely remember that Fiat cars do have system to prevent fire (It should be there on their website as one of the safety features). It cuts off fuel supply in case of accidents to prevent fire.

[goldie_malhotra]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

In new delhi a Fiat Palio collidied with a dump truck coming the wrong way. Immediately after the collision the car caught fire and as the doors got jammed, they could not be opened, leading to death of passengers. Seems line a lot of sheet metal may not be enough to prevent tragedy!

really sad, man - this happened quite nearby and saw the debris being cleared out in the morning ... the car was charred black and badly smashed from one side ...

and you can say that about the heavy metal ... in this case, the thick doors might have actually prevented those guys from getting out on time - it would have been tough to even break out ...

[Zappo]

Hmmm... this is the 5th case of a Fiat catching fire (or rather the 5th one that I heard about). I wonder what with Fiat and their propensity to catch fire?!!! I mean it is not that only Fiats crash on the roads... everyday so many accidents take place. Some of them are quite severe. Then how is it that only Fiats seem to catch fire? I wonder...

By the way, do you guys think that everyone should have a hammer or some such stuff in their cars so that in case of an eventuality the windscreens can be broken for emergency exit? Maybe RTA can make this as a necessity to drive on the roads!

[speedsatya]

mabbe this had something to do with the trucks fuel tank

[tsk1979]

The truck did not catch fire, only the car did

[deepakhon]

It is really sad to see the loss of innocent lives. Palio catching fire? What about the Fire Prevention System? This was one of the first things Sundaram told me when I asked them about the safety in the car. Is there something that still needs to be tested? Are there some conditions where the car catches fire inspite of FPS? Why isn't Fiat treating this?

[tsk1979]

the HT print edition is carrying a more detailed story with pics.
The three people were coming on a 4 laned road. A dump truck laden with construction materials was coming from the opposite direction at high speed.
After the collision there was an explosion of the Palio's fuel tank and the bodies were charred.
The police suspect the trio were too dazed to react and since the car caught fire within seconds they could not react.
As for the truck driver he will go to jain for atmost 2 years(Maximum penalty)

[Zappo]

I would rather guys you all be a bit more cautious if you drive Fiats Last time I heard about a Fiat catching fire I was a bit sceptical (that was the 4th incident) but now I am downright jittery.

Anyways, Fiat or no Fiat be careful; particularly if you are driving at night and approaching a blind turn or something. Our indian HCV drivers have this peculiar habit of driving their vehicles on the wrong side of the road at night (I myself faced a smilar bad incident at night). Try to see if you can hear any rumbling or flickering headlights etc... It saved us once.

[GTO]

Typically italian electricals?

GTO

[Steeroid]

It is sad that the passengers lost their lives and infuriating that the truck driver gets away with 2 years in the cooler, but I dont think you should blame the manufacturer for stray incidents. I've also heard of an Indigo, a Dolphin and an Accent catching fire. No matter how good your deterrent is, it cannot cover EVERY possibility.

[DCEite]

This is a horrible incident. I am a very frequent traveller on this road, i can tell you its a very narrow road and the Truck was travelling in the wrong direction. Now the road is so narrow that only a truck can fit in and since these guys were coming head on, there was very little the driver could do and the road divider made things worse. And at night, both the vehicles were at high speed.

here is a pic:

[speedsatya]

from the pics ..the passenger cell looks ok ...they wouldnt have been hurt if they had been wearing seatbelts...in small cars ...u can think about escaping from the dicky as there is no electricals involved

[suman]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

from the pics ..the passenger cell looks ok ...they wouldnt have been hurt if they had been wearing seatbelts...in small cars ...u can think about escaping from the dicky as there is no electricals involved

They were CHARRED to death by the fire, they had to cut open the car to extricate the bodies, I'm not sure what the relevance of seat belts is here.....