[download2live]

Originally Posted by smartcat

you can see people in mainstream professions owning a German car.

German car = Vento, Polo etc then ok.
But if you are talking of BMW, Audi or a Merc then the only "Mainstream Professionals" who come in mind are "Money minting Docs in big hospitals".

Remaining owners will be well connected socialites, Businessmen, Sons of builders and Politicians and so on.
In short people who can break law and get away with it.

It is this frustration of people which the media caters to via such headlines.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by download2live

German car = Vento, Polo etc then ok.
But if you are talking of BMW, Audi or a Merc then the only "Mainstream Professionals" who come in mind are "Money minting Docs in big hospitals".

Not really true. Entry level models sell for about 30L and there are lot of professionals who can buy these cars (salaries like 1Cr+ are not too uncommon in India nowdays, esp for MBA grads from IIMs etc). Salaries in advertising, media etc are also very good at upper levels. In fact last week only one of my neighbors has bought a new C class! And this is a very middle class society I am talking about! The gentleman is not really a doctor.

Remaining owners will be well connected socialites, Businessmen, Sons of builders and Politicians and so on.
In short people who can break law and get away with it.

The people in these categories mostly buy the SUVs. And yes those have a reputation that sadly blights other german owners.

[drmohitg]

Its the general sentiment that prevails on our roads. The person driving the more expensive vehicle is at fault ALWAYS. Innumerable times I have seen bikers and cyclists driving recklessly and ending up getting hit by a car. Regardless of the nature of the injury, the blame straightaway comes on the car owner.

The following happened last november with my neighbour:
Porsche rams into bike on lodhi road, two injured - Times Of India

Regardless of the truth the fault lies with the porsche owner. All I can say is a lot of facts in the above article are twisted in such a smart fashion with use of some choice words indicating high class society such as returning from a 5 star hotel party are false and only been put there to make it sensational. Otherwise does it matter from where a person is coming from or going to while involved in an accident?

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

I saw a show once, one of those social evils of the day kind, where the anchor was asking an Auto Journo whether Indian roads were ready for the kind of cars sold by the germans.

Well, I dont really see these shows. But lets introspect here. Are Indian roads ready for any kind of cars? The problem is not the car itself but the driver.
And yes, for people here better driver education is a must. Just because a guy can turn a steering wheel and differentiate between A, B, C pedals doesnt mean he is capable of controlling a car. Even if it is a 3 cylinder one. I have even seen Nanos causing accidents on busy streets and they are way short of the 4 cylinder mark that you stated.

Our city roads are not good enough for speeds of even 40kmph. For example, there are so many arterial roads in Pune that have metal drain covers which are jutting above the road surface or concrete drain covers which have sunk a good 10 inches below the road surface. Divider stones are lying in tha fast lane.
Just look at all the abuse our car tyres take and this will answer if Indian roads are ready for anything. And this is only about road surface. I think I could write another essay on jaywalkers, rash drivers, signals, traffic police, barricade maintenance, detour indicators and so on.
Sorry, just hit a raw nerve there.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Regardless of the truth the fault lies with the porsche owner. All I can say is a lot of facts in the above article are twisted in such a smart fashion with use of some choice words indicating high class society such as returning from a 5 star hotel party are false and only been put there to make it sensational. Otherwise does it matter from where a person is coming from or going to while involved in an accident?

Well, it doesnt really matter where who is coming from as long as there is no DUI. But in this case if the lady was speeding in foggy conditions, perhaps the fault did lie with her.
I think it is high time drivers learnt to understand what the road can take instead of what their car can do.

Originally Posted by download2live

Remaining owners will be well connected socialites, Businessmen, Sons of builders and Politicians and so on.
In short people who can break law and get away with it.

aah yes, builders. Have a couple of friends who find it obligatory to driver around in a chauffeured A4/ equivalent (why would one want to do that?! anyway) to 'keep up their image'. Quoted words are theirs, not mine.

Do you think his driver would have gotten any training for controlling an A4?

Originally Posted by joslicx

Not really true. Entry level models sell for about 30L and there are lot of professionals who can buy these cars (salaries like 1Cr+ are not too uncommon in India nowdays, esp for MBA grads from IIMs etc).

@download2live; buddy, I think we are not in the profession we should be in. Or in the country, um. Forget it

[mayjay]

As long as the car is indeed a BMW, how does it matter if the name is getting quoted?
In fact, BMW / Merc / Audi / other powerful cars seem to be involved in a disproportionate number of high profile crashes (those in which there are fatalities). Some time back a 19 year old driving a BMW was involved in a crash in Gurgaon in which a pregnant lady and her driver lost their lives.

In this particular case, a student owning the car rammed it into another vehicle. Due to the safety features, the occupants of such BMWs seem to escape without significant injuries, whereas those in other vehicles suffer much more, in this case, a fatality. Pardon the generalization, but a little bad publicity for the person causing someone to lose their life ought to be excused.

Rather than lament about bad publicity to the brands, more time should be devoted to how drivers of such vehicles should be trained to handle the higher power on tap. In certain cases these cars are given to youngsters to drive by their parents. A little education to such parents against giving powerful cars to immature and inexperienced youngsters would not go amiss. Given the bad publicity, maybe the car brands themselves can start creating some awareness.

[download2live]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Not really true. Entry level models sell for about 30L and there are lot of professionals who can buy these cars (salaries like 1Cr+ are not too uncommon in India nowdays, esp for MBA grads from IIMs etc). Salaries in advertising, media etc are also very good at upper levels.

I thought that "well connected socialites" will cover this section of society.

Anyways leave this. Indian media is worse than a rabid dog now a days. So no point teaching them something or expecting anything other than sensational from them.

[Pancham]

Smartcat, media does this because this is the Indian mentality. Here in our country common people jump off their seats to read a headline which has words like "BMW accident". People are more interested in BMW accidents than Olympics news I guess.

The Hindu article had this: "According to the First Information Report, the BMW hit the cab at such high speed that its driver Rafiq was thrown out on the road from the window".

IMHO, the taxi driver was thrown out because he wasnt wearing the damn seatbelts.

EDIT: One more thing I missed. These German cars are no longer BMW, Porsche, Mercedes. THey are speeding BMW, speeding Porsche, speeding Mercedes.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by mayjay

In fact, BMW / Merc / Audi / other powerful cars seem to be involved in a disproportionate number of high profile crashes (those in which there are fatalities).

Sir, do you have any data for this "disproportionate number" ?

BMW sold around 15,000 cars in india last year. How many fatal accidents did they cause in the same year. Probably 5?. Ratio= 0.00033
Scorpio Sold around 50,000 units in the same period.
To be a lesser evil than BMWs they should have caused only 15 or less fatal accidents. Do you think they caused only such small numbers.
Now do the same math for every vehicle like Tavera, Indica, etc
The maximum number of deaths in India are caused by heavy vehicles, ( now don't tell me they are the Volvos and Merc buses that are killing). Second comes commercial vehicles like cabs and small trucks.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Well, I dont really see these shows. But lets introspect here. Are Indian roads ready for any kind of cars? The problem is not the car itself but the driver.

I think you didn't get it, the lady was talking about the sheer power of these cars, something like an E250CDI or 520D etc. aren't exactly tarmac shredding cars, the Germans have brakes that match up to the performance. Like you mention, the driver is the problem, you are qualified to be on the road when you get your driver's license after taking a H, then driving 50 mts on a side road.

[PranavDesai]

It is wrong to blame any particular brand for an accident. By the newspaper report the cab driver was thrown out of the window, so even if the BMW was speeding, the cab driver could have survived had he worn seatbelt. More than any car, I find the auto rickshaws and bikers driving as if they are being chased by the Devil himself. Civic discipline is slowly becoming an alien word.

[shankar.balan]

Reading this thread and the compilations here of the various news snippets and media attitude towards these higher end vehicles and their owners, leads me to re affirm the below;

1. We are quite jealous and envious of these "high-end" vehicle owners.
2. We still have a deep-seated socialistic streak within us which is fanned by idiot media.
3. While we may not really wish to put in the requisite efforts to do well and achieve for ourselves, we are equally incapable of allowing someone else to enjoy the fruits of his/ her labour in the form of these more expensive trappings.
4. We will willingly excuse filthy evil politicos involved in various misdemeanours and criminal offences on account of sheer fear and cowardice within us, but equally will run down any celebrity who indulges in something wicked, because of our jealousy.
5.Our media is very powerful indeed, but lack a real sense of responsibility - they will do anything to create sensationalism and thereby sell their channels or magazines or newspapers.
6.The Media in India have lost their sanctity - they have whole heartedly adopted that peculiar American inspired brand of Sensationalist Journalism but without the finesse and responsibility that needs to be there to balance it out a bit.
7. Life is cheap here and given the extreme levels of fecundity available in the country, I guess it will be so for the foreseeable future.
8. We are all in some sense, nirvana seekers for the "self" to the exclusion of all else - nothing matters other than our own selfishness and need to get ahead of the next man.
9. We are quite hypocritical as a people - some are always going to be more equal than others.
10. Last but not least, we are becoming increasingly jingoistic in a regional, parochial and communal way, which does not bode well for the future of the nation.

This does not wish to excuse celebrity misdemeanors but I think a little more maturity is called for in the reporting style!

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

I think you didn't get it, the lady was talking about the sheer power of these cars, something like an E250CDI or 520D etc. aren't exactly tarmac shredding cars, the Germans have brakes that match up to the performance. Like you mention, the driver is the problem, you are qualified to be on the road when you get your driver's license after taking a H, then driving 50 mts on a side road.

Maybe its a good thing I dont watch them shows then!
In our case, the cars are not the risks, its the moron driving them like theres no tomorrow.
I think we can expand that to the media circus too? The media here directly pronounces the judgement and creates a prejudiced opinion. It is not their job to do that.

[sgiitk]

Let me add the law says the bigger / read more powerful car is the first suspect unless proven otherwise. I will like to challenge this supposition itself.

The propensity of our high and mighty to drink and drive also does not help. I am sure the percentage of drivers in the bigger cars who are 'over the top' will be higher than those in small cars.

[mayankjha1806]

From the news channel perspective, a viewer will switch channels if the reporter reports a Maruti/Hyundai car driven by a drunk driver killed someone on the road. Its the BMW/Merc/Audi that grab attention, why because of the assumption that the driver must be a rich spoil brat, which may not be true in lot of cases.

Let them report these news items, maybe after 5 years when many would have BMW's the premium factor would have come down to some extent, and then the news channels would come to their senses and report actual news rather then local accident news.

[mac187]

Indian media is not biased. That would be mean they have a vested interest in putting someone down. Indian media is sensationalist, insensitive and uninformed. They just like to use superlatives in everything and put in statements that make the story more spicy.

The worst of the lot is Aaj Tak. When my parents started watching too much of it and were telling me bizzare stories each day, I just retuned the TV and left that channel out.