My accident in my fiesta

[LandCruiser]

As I do frequently I was traveling to Bangalore from Chennai last friday (08-Dec-2006). 150 kms from Chennai I met with an accident. I was in the left lane and a motorist was coming in suddenly from outside the left lane into the left lane and I hit the brakes hard and steered right. I think wheels got terribly locked and fiesta's bu** came forward making the car turn sideways.

The car hit the median, left front tyre got flat (as i observed later, or may be this happened before I hit, dont know) and then the car bounced back and was skidding all the way to hit the parapet wall of the bridge. I was wearing a seat belt, so i survived with a stiff neck and sprained right fore-arm.

I was speeding at around 120kmph and was trying to overtake a car on the right lane. But this guy on the bike closed the gap between him and the car on the right lane and I had to back off from the overtaking manouvre and stand on the brakes hard. The car's rear came forward and the car was perpendicular to the median when it hit it hard. I was thinking that i will fly and land on the other side of the highway but the car was thrown back and skidded and moved backwards.

My bad! One more time a big kick on my back for not buying a car with ABS.

Front left wheel ball joint broke and that was fixed by a local mechanic. Then with the help of local people i got the car towed back to chennai. Car is with MPL ford from friday (08-Dec-2006) evening. I have taken insurance from ICICI lombard. They were responsive initially, but till now the surveyor has not visited the service centre.

After I informed ICICI on saturday, the manager himself called and said he will send his surveyor immediately. I had misplaced my insurance policy. ICICI provided me with a new copy the same day. Today evening I again talked to the manager and he assured to send the surveyor tomorrow.

From what is seen the broken parts are:

1. Front wheel (flat)
2. Front wheel ball joint broken
3. AC condensor (the part which is on the front side)
4. Engine bed (gear box related parts too, not sure)
5. Rear left tail light
6. Rear bumper
7. Boot door
8. Boot base (inside the boot where the spare wheel is kept, the base is crumpled)
9. Metal part above the rear left wheel (sorrounding the fuel lid)

Waiting for the assessment and estimates.

Some pics of the sad incident:

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Man !!!

ABS would have really helped... Looks bad!!!

How are you??? Any personal injuries???

[LandCruiser]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Man !!!

ABS would have really helped... Looks bad!!!

How are you??? Any personal injuries???

Nope. My neck was stiff and falling back on its own suddenly when i try to look up. I used some pain killers tablets and spray medicine for that and after 3 days I am feeling better.

I was not able to take food with my fingers for a day as the muscle in my forehand was having some trouble.

But now am better.

[manveet]

Thank God all's well w.r.t. your health.

From the looks of it - the car's not damaged much, atleast considering the kind of impact it went through.

Take care and keep us posted, both on your health as well as your car's.

Regards.

[Jaggu]

nasty crash, hope you are well.. take care

[sreenivass]

Originally Posted by LandCruiser

As I do frequently I was traveling to Bangalore from Chennai last friday (08-Dec-2006). ....
.......

Thank god there is not much injuries to you. Going at 120 KMPH and braking hard without ABS could have been worse.

[hydrashok]

Good to know you are (mostly) all right, LC! I'm really sorry about the car. I guess it being the highway, you've been lucky enough to not have anything worse happen. Take it easy for a few days, and get well soon!

[rjstyles69]

hey landcruiser , hope all is well with you. Get well soon mate, your car can be repaired.

[Zappo]

Sorry to know about the incidence LandCruiser. However it again brings to the fore the old issue. No matter how smooth and inviting the roads look the fact remains that our roads are simply not fit for anything above 80kmph. Primarily because of the unruly traffic. Problem is that people who put up such calisthenics on the roads (as the motorcyclist in your case) do not even realize that they are putting others alongside themselves in risk.

I feel 80 is the max speed at which you still have some chance of reacting to something untoward or unexpected, provided you spot it at least 100mtrs beforehand (which in itself can be hurculean considering that at such speeds 100mtrs is covered in a blink).

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by LandCruiser

Nope. My neck was stiff and falling back on its own suddenly when i try to look up. I used some pain killers tablets and spray medicine for that and after 3 days I am feeling better.

I was not able to take food with my fingers for a day as the muscle in my forehand was having some trouble.

But now am better.

Did you go to the hospital...

Please dont supress it with painkillers otherwise...

[LandCruiser]

Thanks mates. I should have visited the doc. But anyway will go for a checkup sometime this week to ensure there is nothing serious really.

[netarchie]

Sorry to know about the incident, thank god ..nothing serious with your personal injuries. As zappo rightly pointed out, nothing above 80 kms/hr on indian roads..however tempting the roads are..ABS or no ABS. Also no overtaking from the left.
get well soon and drive safe. All the best.

[aZa]

Hey LC, Thats a bad accident. Luckily no serious injuries next time keep it below 100kmph and do Keep us updated on ur insurance claim.

[fight_club]

thnaks god you have not been hurt bad, otherwise wrost thing happen hopefully both you and your car will be back on track.

it also bring couple of sad facts into focus.

1. our government who does not care at all about our life and manufacures get away with lots of profit and wrost safety standards.

2. we ourselves are very unruly drivers, and i am saying we all i myself remember doing race after race on palm beach in my new palio and the day i witnessed that honda city accident i realised how futile it is, i have my wife waiting for me at home.

3. for sports enthusiastics there is no place, i think authorities should consider providing people opportunities to show and train their racing skills so enthusiast among us can do it safely their.

4. now days i let people overtake me happily, it does not matter who wins the race as long as you go home with no scratches on yourself and your car.

drive safely all.

[rks]

One more point. Try to keep the speed difference between yourself and the vehicle you are overtaking at an optimal level. Definitely not too high, which commits you to the overtake ton early and leaves you with nn time to react in an emergency.