KB ka dB CRASHED!

[kb100]

It Happened folks! - KB ka dB Crashed!!


Me, my wife, two daughters and Ma-in-law were on our way back from Kollur - near Udipi (we had gone to do some pooja's at the famous Mookambika Temple there).

We finished everything by noon - and headed out to meet up with Samurai and family @ Manipal. Got to check out his awesome HT set-up(addictive!!) and he took us to this fab place that served some of the best Chinese food we have had in a long long time! Those who know me will vouch for the fact that my appetite belies my size - but I that day I ate - (My wife swears I had flat noodles coming out of my ears!)


Anyways we left Manipal around 4.00pm towards Mangalore... It was raining continuously and I did not fancy driving in the night - especially in rains. So we called ahead and made some bookings at a hotel in Kannur. We fell slightly behind schedule due to some crazy traffic @ Mangy. AT about 7.30 we were passing Neeleshwar - about 60 km before our scheduled stop for the night. These parts have lovely stretches of beautiful wide tarmac - with hardly any traffic. The rain was light enough for me to keep the speeds up confidently. At about 7.30 pm we passed a darkened Neeleshwar town - power was down- entered a long albiet dark straight - and gathered speed rapidly- and about a km out, this car passed us with its high beams on. IN the millisecond that it took my eyes to adjust this sharp left curve came up upon us!. I started to swing wide and then noticed this truck coming in the opposite side. I knew I did not have the clearance to make the turn and slammed on the brakes. My ES100's lost grip and I slid straight and SMACK buried myself till my RVMs into a fully laden lorry!

This is how I ended up - --- sorry about the bad light - taken on my mobile phone - in ZERO light!!



My mother in law was in the front with me - both of us had our seatbelts on - and that clearly saved us. My kids were in the rear with my wife. My wife suffered a mild concussion from her head banging into the front seat. Kids were - Thank God! - perfectly fine! All of us spent a night in the local hospital for observation!

This cat has just lot one of his lives folks !! It is SHEER PROVIDENCE that this ended the way it did. This entire thing - start to finish it was all of TWO seconds and all this happened in a 100 feet stretch. Despite the wheels locking up, we were going at a fair clip and we smacked into the lorry hard enough to break the lorry's U-Clamp !! Had the rear stepped out even by so much then the B pillar would have taken the brunt of the impact with horrific results - BETTER STILL - if the Lorry had NOT hit us we would have skidded right across and over into this deep gully across the road & Ta-Ta KB!!

Learnings ?? ... amongst the obvious ..

1. I dont care who says what about Hyundai cars - but I now KNOW for a fact that not many cars in India that would have taken this impact and let us walk away from it. Love You Hyundai!

2. ALWAYS wear seabelts!... I am thankful that I insisted my MIL wear it!!

3. THERE IS A GOD!!!

I am thankful to all who called - It helped - it really did!! .. You all know who you are - and I thank you - from the bottom of my heart!

More later!

[pawan]

its good to know that you are fine and so is everybody that what matters.take care

[v1p3r]

kb, good to see you're safe, and everyone is alright. Seems like you got lucky, if there is such a thing, as far as the impact and angle go.

[speedmiester]

my god, that is a horrific accident,
thank god everyone escaped without major injuries.

A clear case why one should always wear the seatbelts.

[binz]

Hey,..your lucky,good to hear you and your family are safe.

ARent trucks supposed to have that bar below their bumper,..it is compulsary,isn't it?

[SumitB]

Shows how important seat belts are. Thankfully, you and your near ones are doing well.

[Deeps]

I shudder to think what couldhave happened to your MIL if the seat belts weren't worn or if the speed had been just slightly higher. Good to know the car took it so well and great to know that no serious injuries to any family members as well as you.

[vid6639]

Originally Posted by binz

ARent trucks supposed to have that bar below their bumper,..it is compulsary,isn't it?

Only in the rear, not the front.

Good to know everyone is safe kb.

Drive carefully,

Cheers.

[drifter]

Man thats really sad to hear. Im really glad you all are okay. Feel sad for the little hyundai. Hope you can stick her back together as good as new.

Drifter

[nikkibike]

That pic is too scary KB!! Glad that all walked out safely from the car! Thank god!! Accidents happens... but the way it happened to you is a bit scary all the way! That too with a fully laden truck!!
Go back to Mookambika and do more poojas! God definitely safeguarded you and your family to the max possible extent.
Hope you are your family members are out of the trauma by now and are happy!
Get the car back as good as new and continue driving more... safely!!!
cheers!

[hydrashok]

KB, that is once scary photo. You folks are really, really lucky. It is sad about the car, but it is soooooo good that nothing at all happened to you folks. Especially, the kids are safe. Thank god you were wearing seatbelts. Take care! And thank your stars!

[rks]

Originally Posted by kb100

Learnings ?? ... amongst the obvious ..

1. I dont care who says what about Hyundai cars - but I now KNOW for a fact that not many cars in India that would have taken this impact and let us walk away from it. Love You Hyundai!

2. ALWAYS wear seabelts!... I am thankful that I insisted my MIL wear it!!
3. THERE IS A GOD!!!

Lucky escape and thank God. More lessons:
4 Wear shoes that grlp. Can't take chances with brakes.
5. Look away from opposing headlights and intn the space you want to drive in. 6. Use windshield washer frequently at night if windshield gets smudged by wipers in light rain due to dirt thrown up by other vehicles. 7. Loaded trucks will occupy centre of road on narrow roads and may not give way. Take corners slowly.

[low_bass_makker]

Sirjeeeeeee...what the hell happened, but one thing is good that everyone is safe and sound..and no one did not get hurt...the car gets damaged and they get repaired but life is one thing which never returns.....

and that is one scary Photo...and always wear seatbelts.

Originally Posted by rks

7. Loaded trucks will occupy centre of road on narrow roads and may not give way. Take corners slowly.

ya true...they cannot give side as they cant afford it

[esteem_lover]

Yes, there is a god, sujith & he has been doing overtime looking out for you. This is no ordinary mishap, please take care.

Personally, I am shocked & this is all i can say.

[navin]

Thank go you all are safe. Thank you Hyundai.

Hey I just realised one thing. I finally got to see KB ka DB! :-)