Accident with my WagonR - Team-BHP

kgc_cool · 27th November 2006, 13:30

Hello Everybody,

First of all, my apologies for the really long hibernation mode I have been in the past few months.. I had changed job and have been procastrinating all posts ever since..

The latest and not so good thing that happened to me was an accident with my wagonR about a month ago..

I was driving towards my office in Whitefield at about 7:25 AM in the morning. While I was taking a right turn (there was a huge truck ahead of me that just turned and I was following it).. I had crossed half of the road on the other side when an indica (which was travelling in the opposite direction) rammed into my rear passenger side door..

The Indica was doing close to 80 I guess.. my car took the hit and spun 270 degrees on the road.. I guess I must have been at 10-20kmph.. some very slow turn speed (given the truck that went ahead of me). And while this was happening, the rear side of my car hit a cycle walla at the other end of the road.. Fortunately (very very fortunately), he received a small cut (< 0.5 cm) when he fell down and no other injury beyond that..

My rear passenger door (and the fender on top of the rear passenger wheel) took the entire impact.

The car was miraculously, still in a driverable condition..

The Indica was a call center cab. And he was probably speeding just cos it is morning and never saw any vehicles that were turning at the junction.. (for those of you who drive on this road, the oldmadras road - whitefield road has a road divider all through except at intersections..

Damage to the indica: right side of the bonnet seemed a little displaced (that was the part that rammed into my car).. Nothing serious though..

Went to the police station to lodge an FIR and the cab walla starts off with his version that I was speaking on my mobile and took a sudden U turn
and that my car hit his car. And to top it all, they alleged that I got out of my car as soon as the accident happened, and started assaulting him..

Well.. I had reached the limit of vexation and was shouting at the cabbie in front of the inspector that they should atleast have some scruples and not lie like morons..

After much arguing, fortunately, the inspector was acting sane and forced the cabbie to come up with the right version of the story..

At this point, the cabbie's argument changed lines to: We are poor people and cannot afford to repair it, please give us some money..

I had 2 options: make a complaint and go through the court to get myself off the hook.. and probably a chance of getting my damages covered from the cab's insurance (court charges = 1.5K as I found from some one who was getting his car out that day). Alternatively, make an out of court settlement and get out of the whole thing..

I was in a massive hurry as I was travelling out of country the next day. So, I bit the bullet and paid him 2K and went to my car service station.

Total repair costs = 30K.. And unfortunately, my car is over 4 years old, so, I paid close to 14K for the repairs..

Finally, my baby is back and is totally spic and span by the time I got back from my travel..

This was my first experience with an accident and associated procedures. Definitely an avoidable pain. I have become a doubly careful driver ever since. I think I did not anticipate a car to come and hit me that fast at the intersection as I was tailing a lorry.. These days, I stop, wait for a good 10-20 seconds and verify everything before I make a turn..

No pics of the accident as I did not want to carry the memory for long..

Cheers,
KG

sajo · 27th November 2006, 13:35

I dont understand it... why did you pay him Rs.2000 when it was entirely his fault??

finneyp · 27th November 2006, 13:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by sajo

I dont understand it... why did you pay him Rs.2000 when it was entirely his fault??

Even I am wondering the same???

satish_appasani · 27th November 2006, 14:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by sajo

I dont understand it... why did you pay him Rs.2000 when it was entirely his fault??

He mentioned it's his first time facing such an incident.

KG:
If there is not much damage and it is only sheet metal damage, you need not file a complaint. You can directly call your service center and insurance company.
If you face such an incident, if possible try to shoot some pics of the incident. Then those morons will not have much to argue. To hell with his damage and his economical status. If he can't afford, he should be careful in the first place.

kgc_cool · 27th November 2006, 15:26

Well, here is the deal:

Things that were not working in my favor:
1. I did not want to speak with the cab guy as they were about 30 of them who wanted to "negotiate" with me. While i was alone.
2. I wanted to get to the police station at the earliest. Also, the insurance company had told me that an FIR is a must before carrying out inspection as my damage was reasonably large..
3. My FIR was to only enable me claiming damages against my own insurance
4. Cab wallah starts off with a complaint against me that I am driving recklessly
5. I was travelling out of country the next day..

The options I was given by the inspector:
1. Start off with an official complaint and a court case
2. Traffic police will perform an independent investigation and present the details to the court
3. Process takes about a week and court will give the verdict.

At this point, even if Indica is found at fault, I will not be able to repair my car in a cashless transaction. I will need to get the repairs done and then wait about a month for refund..

Moreover, during this process (of court verdict), both cars have to be at the police station and one is required to attend the hearings and heed to cop requests for information. Sum total: about 2-3 days of impact on my work life.

And fee for said process = Rs. 1500 (I confirmed this from the owner of an Alto - private individual whose car was involved in an accident too and chose to go via the official complaint route. He was leaving the police station when I was there too and I enquired with him to validate the procedure that I was informed of).

It was agreed by all parties that the mistake was with the indica and he was driving recklessly.

Now, I had to make a choice between paying 1500 + losing time at work + the uncertainity of my car's safety while I was gone. As against paying 2000 and getting out of there..

Though my heart told me that I should fight it out, it was not making any business sense. It seemed to be a lot cheaper to pay the 2K and get the hell out of there immediately.

Guys, standing in the police station like a criminal and waiting for the inspector to come and act like he is doing you a massive favor does not seem like an inviting option..

To this day, I still feel that I was taken for a ride and should not have paid the 2K. But, it was more like 2K against a whole lot of "intangible things" that I may have had to lose that got me paying.

kgc_cool · 27th November 2006, 15:27

And I forgot to mention - damage to Indica was not huge - bumper + minor damage to the bonnet. But, my car went through a 30K facelift procedure!

sajo · 27th November 2006, 15:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgc_cool

...I did not want to speak with the cab guy as they were about 30 of them who wanted to "negotiate" with me. While i was alone....

Ohh man.. really a bad situation. These guys start behaving like thugs at the slightest provocation.

Mods, shouldnt this be in the "street experiences" section ?

rjstyles69 · 27th November 2006, 16:41

@KGC_cool just another bad day i would say mate. I truly understand what one undergoes in such a situation. Also these cabbies are a handful of dumb thugs who know nothing about driving.

the_trooper · 27th November 2006, 22:21

hyderabad with its IT and call centre boom has seen a lot of irresponsible cabbies recently too.

there was one guy who kept on honking inspite of visible traffic ahead of me... so i held him back throughout the Jublee Hills strech till KBR road...with very obvious blocking manouvers!

i was kinda waiting for him to make the first move and swap paint so i could swap one of my knuckle impression of mine for his jaw.

i guess its individual perspective of dealing with things. although, just being in an accident and then having to deal with legalities of the police station and court, well, there can be nothing more horrific.

mithun · 7th December 2006, 03:58

Which is your insurance company ? Is it Maruti Insurance ?

I've heard that most of the Insurance companies in India is having cashless repairs irrespective of what is the fault OR how it had happened as long as there is damage to the vehicle....

ajitkommini · 7th December 2006, 11:19

I've noticed that for some reason the cops (even upto SI level) are very reluctant to file complaints and always do their best to convince you to "settle" with the other guy in an accident case. If you act a little stubborn and force them they have no choice however.

Once when I was in college (in manipal) a bus backed into the right side of my 800. I filed a complaint at the local police stn. and the bus was impounded. I let them sweat for a couple of hours, then went down there. The owners were desparate to get the vehicle released (loss of revenue i guess) and were glad to pay up. Meanwhile I got a written estimate of the damages from the Maruti authorised guy too.

27th November 2006, 13:30	#1 (permalink)
kgc_cool BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 49	Accident with my WagonR Hello Everybody, First of all, my apologies for the really long hibernation mode I have been in the past few months.. I had changed job and have been procastrinating all posts ever since.. The latest and not so good thing that happened to me was an accident with my wagonR about a month ago.. I was driving towards my office in Whitefield at about 7:25 AM in the morning. While I was taking a right turn (there was a huge truck ahead of me that just turned and I was following it).. I had crossed half of the road on the other side when an indica (which was travelling in the opposite direction) rammed into my rear passenger side door.. The Indica was doing close to 80 I guess.. my car took the hit and spun 270 degrees on the road.. I guess I must have been at 10-20kmph.. some very slow turn speed (given the truck that went ahead of me). And while this was happening, the rear side of my car hit a cycle walla at the other end of the road.. Fortunately (very very fortunately), he received a small cut (< 0.5 cm) when he fell down and no other injury beyond that.. My rear passenger door (and the fender on top of the rear passenger wheel) took the entire impact. The car was miraculously, still in a driverable condition.. The Indica was a call center cab. And he was probably speeding just cos it is morning and never saw any vehicles that were turning at the junction.. (for those of you who drive on this road, the oldmadras road - whitefield road has a road divider all through except at intersections.. Damage to the indica: right side of the bonnet seemed a little displaced (that was the part that rammed into my car).. Nothing serious though.. Went to the police station to lodge an FIR and the cab walla starts off with his version that I was speaking on my mobile and took a sudden U turn and that my car hit his car. And to top it all, they alleged that I got out of my car as soon as the accident happened, and started assaulting him.. Well.. I had reached the limit of vexation and was shouting at the cabbie in front of the inspector that they should atleast have some scruples and not lie like morons.. After much arguing, fortunately, the inspector was acting sane and forced the cabbie to come up with the right version of the story.. At this point, the cabbie's argument changed lines to: We are poor people and cannot afford to repair it, please give us some money.. I had 2 options: make a complaint and go through the court to get myself off the hook.. and probably a chance of getting my damages covered from the cab's insurance (court charges = 1.5K as I found from some one who was getting his car out that day). Alternatively, make an out of court settlement and get out of the whole thing.. I was in a massive hurry as I was travelling out of country the next day. So, I bit the bullet and paid him 2K and went to my car service station. Total repair costs = 30K.. And unfortunately, my car is over 4 years old, so, I paid close to 14K for the repairs.. Finally, my baby is back and is totally spic and span by the time I got back from my travel.. This was my first experience with an accident and associated procedures. Definitely an avoidable pain. I have become a doubly careful driver ever since. I think I did not anticipate a car to come and hit me that fast at the intersection as I was tailing a lorry.. These days, I stop, wait for a good 10-20 seconds and verify everything before I make a turn.. No pics of the accident as I did not want to carry the memory for long.. Cheers, KG

27th November 2006, 13:35	#2 (permalink)
sajo BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pune Posts: 885	I dont understand it... why did you pay him Rs.2000 when it was entirely his fault?? __________________ Its big, slow, thirsty and American - but love is strange!

7th December 2006, 03:58	#10 (permalink)
mithun Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cochin/Bangalore Posts: 1,119 View My Garage	Which is your insurance company ? Is it Maruti Insurance ? I've heard that most of the Insurance companies in India is having cashless repairs irrespective of what is the fault OR how it had happened as long as there is damage to the vehicle.... __________________ Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams dry, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.

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27th November 2006, 15:26	#5 (permalink)
kgc_cool BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 49	Well, here is the deal: Things that were not working in my favor: 1. I did not want to speak with the cab guy as they were about 30 of them who wanted to "negotiate" with me. While i was alone. 2. I wanted to get to the police station at the earliest. Also, the insurance company had told me that an FIR is a must before carrying out inspection as my damage was reasonably large.. 3. My FIR was to only enable me claiming damages against my own insurance 4. Cab wallah starts off with a complaint against me that I am driving recklessly 5. I was travelling out of country the next day.. The options I was given by the inspector: 1. Start off with an official complaint and a court case 2. Traffic police will perform an independent investigation and present the details to the court 3. Process takes about a week and court will give the verdict. At this point, even if Indica is found at fault, I will not be able to repair my car in a cashless transaction. I will need to get the repairs done and then wait about a month for refund.. Moreover, during this process (of court verdict), both cars have to be at the police station and one is required to attend the hearings and heed to cop requests for information. Sum total: about 2-3 days of impact on my work life. And fee for said process = Rs. 1500 (I confirmed this from the owner of an Alto - private individual whose car was involved in an accident too and chose to go via the official complaint route. He was leaving the police station when I was there too and I enquired with him to validate the procedure that I was informed of). It was agreed by all parties that the mistake was with the indica and he was driving recklessly. Now, I had to make a choice between paying 1500 + losing time at work + the uncertainity of my car's safety while I was gone. As against paying 2000 and getting out of there.. Though my heart told me that I should fight it out, it was not making any business sense. It seemed to be a lot cheaper to pay the 2K and get the hell out of there immediately. Guys, standing in the police station like a criminal and waiting for the inspector to come and act like he is doing you a massive favor does not seem like an inviting option.. To this day, I still feel that I was taken for a ride and should not have paid the 2K. But, it was more like 2K against a whole lot of "intangible things" that I may have had to lose that got me paying.

27th November 2006, 15:27	#6 (permalink)
kgc_cool BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 49	And I forgot to mention - damage to Indica was not huge - bumper + minor damage to the bonnet. But, my car went through a 30K facelift procedure!

27th November 2006, 16:41	#8 (permalink)
rjstyles69 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bengalooru.. Posts: 1,814 View My Garage	@KGC_cool just another bad day i would say mate. I truly understand what one undergoes in such a situation. Also these cabbies are a handful of dumb thugs who know nothing about driving.

27th November 2006, 22:21	#9 (permalink)
the_trooper BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Chennai/Hyderabad Posts: 98 View My Garage	hyderabad with its IT and call centre boom has seen a lot of irresponsible cabbies recently too. there was one guy who kept on honking inspite of visible traffic ahead of me... so i held him back throughout the Jublee Hills strech till KBR road...with very obvious blocking manouvers! i was kinda waiting for him to make the first move and swap paint so i could swap one of my knuckle impression of mine for his jaw. i guess its individual perspective of dealing with things. although, just being in an accident and then having to deal with legalities of the police station and court, well, there can be nothing more horrific.

7th December 2006, 11:19	#11 (permalink)
ajitkommini BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 270	I've noticed that for some reason the cops (even upto SI level) are very reluctant to file complaints and always do their best to convince you to "settle" with the other guy in an accident case. If you act a little stubborn and force them they have no choice however. Once when I was in college (in manipal) a bus backed into the right side of my 800. I filed a complaint at the local police stn. and the bus was impounded. I let them sweat for a couple of hours, then went down there. The owners were desparate to get the vehicle released (loss of revenue i guess) and were glad to pay up. Meanwhile I got a written estimate of the damages from the Maruti authorised guy too.