Horrible accident while test driving SX4 (Mob/dealer beat up the driver)

[gemithomas]

Maruti Fans please dont take this negetively.

Just wanted to know if there could be some bug in the EPS (Electronic Power Steering). Like some power surge once in a while and if you happen to be turning the steering at that moment, the wheel turns much more than normal. I am asking coz i have been hearing of a lot of swift accidents just due to over steering. In my FIAT i experience a jerk on engine whenever the radiator fan comes on. Could it be something simmilar where the current varies for a second and if you are turning the steering at that point of time the sudden power surge causes the car to turn much more than expected.

Team Engineers. Please comment on whether it is possible to identify if any such bug is there.

[PVS]

I believe whatever has happened to Sunson is terrible and shows the barbaric nature of the general public around who are all too eager to take the law into their own hands.

I believe that the man on the street or the general public is way too frustrated about
ist life and are looking for an incident to vent its frustration. Ok this is going off topic.

With this thread having already reached its 7 th page, Sunson, you would have got a majority of the advice/action points you need to do.
After seeing to that you have completely recovered mentally and physically from the trauma:

1) Get in touch with an experienced Lawyer and proceed legally against Bimal.
2) Inform Maruti as well
3) Take the help of Bangy Team BHPias if necessary, to sort out the issue

T-BHPians: After this incident, can someone prepare a guide on facing unfortunate incidents like these? What are the things that a prospective car buyer needs to keep in mind before he/she takes out a car for a test drive?

We already have a to-do- checklist before buying a car - may be this checklist should also be of an immense help to prospective car buyers.

Regards
PVS

[madan80]

really scary post. glad that some sense prevailed with the good samaritan! what scares me the most is an accident- that the mob starts beating up the driver rather than trying to help.
is it the frustration levels is it road rage i dont know, but something has to be done if we need to get this thing sorted out.

glad you got out ok... but if the maruti guy hit you -file a case of assult against him.

[Prasidhi]

We already have a parked thread "Tips to consider during Test drive of cars! ". I would suggest that we should add all these points to this parked thread and a check list can be prepared and added to the "Advice"
section.

Mods, what's your opinion ?

[m3_07]

Sorry to hear that dude. I feel even more sorry being a banglorean & that it has occurred in my city.

That was the effect of mob fury & the mob only follows the leader, good OR bad.

I suppose that the dealer too is equally responsible for the safety of the car & moreover, since the car is insured, you need not worry about the costs incurred. Get yourself a good lawyer & also doubly make sure that the lawyer does not take you for a ride on the expenses forseeing a fast buck on the case.

For GOD sake, please do send a mail to Maruti, may be even pick up a phone & call them @ 202, 2nd Floor, Embassy Classic
Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore - 560001
[FONT=Wingdings]([/FONT] (080) 41120017-19
Fax: 22484841

No dealer is supposed to harm a customer OR even talk to the customer in a stern tone.

[dibbasu]

Saying is something; doing is different. Person who has undergone this would understand how difficult it is. I would rather request all Bangalorians to assemble one Saturaday/Sunday (whichever works) and accompany the victim to the nearest police station. That would help him (to my understanding). Please fix me if I am wrong. I am 120% in support with you but unfortunately due to location constraints can not be of much help. Let us know if we can help to expedite the process from anywhere in India. And YES they should be brought to justice immediatelu.

[opendro]

I can feel what Sunson would have gone through. But all I can say is that all the bad feelings will slowly ease away as there was no stake at lives. Even for a minor accidents, I get really frustrated and furious if I'm not at fault or very scared if I'm at fault. But generally, things ease as the days go. The hurt feelings of the material losses also go away.

There are many reasons why mobs behave that way in India. The system in India is such that people don't get fair justice from the police or court. People don't have much faith in it. Or court/law just don't come to their minds in the first place. Once it is out of their hands, it is all over and gone. In fact, people even run away from police and police still cannot do anything. Many times, car owners settle the issue between themselves for the same reason, specially when both are from middle class. Another reason is that many of these mob have not owned cars or not involved in any sort of such accidents to see the other side of the suffering. And those who have owned cars will anyway leave the scene (middle/upper class Indian mentality again).

Regarding the dealers macho men, I guess, they will not do any major harm to you as the loss is not that much for them. They acted that way just to get the maximum possible from you. You may try to acknowledge, say ok, "I will do it" kind of responses, try negotiating now and then and buy time till they also come to terms that it was an accident that they also have to bear with. It takes sometime for the angers to calm down. That is what I have mostly seen in accident settlements. If I were you, I would think, I pay 2-3 lakh in the "worst" case (even though it is still a huge amount even for myself, but not so big that I cannot pay by any means) and I walk free, which wouldn't have been possible if there were major injuries or loss of lives or someone powerful involved on the other side.

Lastly, I feel really sorry to hear that it has happened to you.

[diabloo]

This is discussed to death on this forum [http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/38087-suzuki-dezire-takes-dip-mangalore.html].

There was an accident. Lets help the victims. Lets assess the damages and claim it legally (either from the driver or the insurance company).

Hitting driver (), getting his signature on blank cheque, doesn't get you anything.

Originally Posted by nickatnite

Please click on the link below and read this blog news item. What will be your reaction if you were the dealer?Swift Sedan goes on test drive, ends up in river | JapanCarBlog.com

Hey buddy, whatz the gist of the following lines?

.And you know that what applies to the goose, applies to the gander. Everyone gets the royal run-around in this country.Try hitting someone in your car in the US and talk nonchalantly about it like another member here in Mumbai. You'll be lucky you don't get shot. People can tell if it was unavoidable or if you were being reckless and careless or a plain ol' bad driver. Indians are very careful drivers in the US, because they know the consequences of reckless behaviour , especially those who live away from big cities. In the countryside they'll shoot first and then call 911, and claim self defense. There's nothing one can do about it.Worse has happened. I can understand folks sympathizing with 'sunson's' plight. I do too. But, the irrational and one-sided comments got me going. What can i do?. This is India and this is howthe middle class feels against business and the poor, it seems. It is futile for me to try to balance evrything out. I will not comment further. Regards.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by raul

And this could happen to any one of us. First there seems to be resentment about anyone who drives and god forbid if you are not a 'local', 'youngish' and appear 'prosperous' in that order. In Bangalore it seems to be 'IT', so its not spur of the moment act, this is some brewing resentment manifesting itself. The slightest thing and a mob baying for blood and they can and will kill you. I have seen people picking up huge roads or rocks to attack people's head at the slightest and most trivial issue.

.

raul, There are cases about mob fury everyday in Bangalore (and everywhere else in India, crowds lynch even the poorest guys). Most of the time its against Trucks, Buses, Tempos etc., These drivers run away and the vehicle gets attacked.

Why are you bringing in IT, not local, prosperous, youngish etc., into this. Don't think too much into this. You are trying to see yourself as different or something ?

[nickatnite]

Originally Posted by diabloo

This is discussed to death on this forum [http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/38087-suzuki-dezire-takes-dip-mangalore.html].

There was an accident. Lets help the victims. Lets assess the damages and claim it legally (either from the driver or the insurance company).

Hitting driver (), getting his signature on blank cheque, doesn't get you anything.

Hey buddy, whatz the gist of the following lines?

The gist of the following lines is that what i'm trying to convey is lost among the terribly one-sided arguments blindly in favor of one party to this incident. We don't know what was said and done after the incident to trigger the violence, or the decison to get the checks signed. Did 'sunson' press any 'panic' button by saying something even inadvertently?.Who knows?.I have hit an autorickshaw while learning to drive here again and i didn't face this kind of reaction. Ofcourse, i'm smart. I didn't try to grandstand my way out of anything. I was contrite, knowing it was my fault, was respectful and the small crowd that (as always) gathered actually turned quite sympathetic, including the auto driver, who initially started cursing but quickly calmed down on seeing that i wasn't being aggressive.I paid for the damage and moved on. The matter was closed. It was my fault.While i was walking down the street, a motorbike driver brushed against my leg. I fell down and got some bruises. Guys around the place, quickly came to my assistance, got around the motorbike guy , who had stopped. The motorbike guy was apologetic and offered to take me to the hospital and all was well. I was put in an auto and i directed them to my family doctor's clinic. The guy paid for everything and even called me regularly for a few weeks to check if i was ok. I even persuaded my dad not to pursue this matter further because the guy was willing to accept his fault and take responsibility for it. A little courtesy and willingness to accept if one is at fault will go a long way in avoiding unfortunate incidents.

We talk about the West so much, but did you know they have "Bounty Hunters" in the US?. We call them "goondas" here. Try defaulting on a payment.The shop owner can go to court and after a reasonable amount of time, get to hire a Bounty Hunter to find you. Those guys can be real rough. Believe you me. Unlike in India, where one can default and no one can do anything about it. Really. What recourse does a shopowner have here?. There are two sides to every coin.

[sri737]

It is indeed a horrifying incident that happened. For whatever reasons the accident happened, the after effects were really bad and spine chilling esp the dealer roughing u up with cops around. You should take this up with maruti and let them know how good their dealers are.

Catch hold of a good lawyer who can bail you out of this whole mess. Hope you get over this soon

Take care!

[kuttapan]

Originally Posted by nickatnite

The gist of the following lines is that what i'm trying to convey is lost among the terribly one-sided arguments blindly in favor of one party to this incident. We don't know what was said and done after the incident to trigger the violence, or the decison to get the checks signed. Did 'sunson' press any 'panic' button by saying something even inadvertently?.Who knows?.I have hit an autorickshaw while learning to drive here again and i didn't face this kind of reaction. Ofcourse, i'm smart. I didn't try to grandstand my way out of anything. I was contrite, knowing it was my fault, was respectful and the small crowd that (as always) gathered actually turned quite sympathetic, including the auto driver, who initially started cursing but quickly calmed down on seeing that i wasn't being aggressive.I paid for the damage and moved on. The matter was closed. It was my fault.While i was walking down the street, a motorbike driver brushed against my leg. I fell down and got some bruises. Guys around the place, quickly came to my assistance, got around the motorbike guy , who had stopped. The motorbike guy was apologetic and offered to take me to the hospital and all was well. I was put in an auto and i directed them to my family doctor's clinic. The guy paid for everything and even called me regularly for a few weeks to check if i was ok. I even persuaded my dad not to pursue this matter further because the guy was willing to accept his fault and take responsibility for it. A little courtesy and willingness to accept if one is at fault will go a long way in avoiding unfortunate incidents.

You seem to be trying to hard to look at the other side of the coin, not to mention the fact that you are also seem to be a self-confessed expert on mob behaviour, based on a couple of incidents you had earlier in life. Pray tell me sir, have you done your doctorate on "Mob mentalities across the world", with a special paper on Bangalore? I suggest you refrain your stereotypical remarks about mobs,because, living in the US, you would be one of the least qualified persons to comment about mobs in Bangalore - your earlier enlightening experiences notwithstanding.

The issue here is that a person, after booking(now he was 'more' than a prospective customer), took a car for a test drive. Dealer is supposed to have adequate insurance cover, to take care of any mishaps. Sunson might have driven aggressively(who doesn't, in a test drive?), may have even made a mistake, but there is NO WAY that the dealer can come to the hospital and hurt him further, physically - eventhough his property(the test drive car) is damaged. Nor can he coerce SunSon into signing stupid documents. The best he could have done is to file charges against Sunson. Mr NickatNite, are you able to digest this simple fact? Now, to put it in a sentence(courtesy: Prof. Ulfat Sultan) - THE DEALER CANNOT TAKE THE DRIVER TO TASK(at least physically) FOR AN ACCIDENT DURING A TEST DRIVE.

Whew ! I hope this brings some sense into our gentleman from US(for all I know, BIMAL owner may be related to this guy, judging from his posts on this thread).

[n_aditya]

This is a very shocking and unfortunate incident. Luckily you were saved from mob fury by the good samaritan. Hopefully you endured little pain and minimal injuries.

Register a case of assualt and harrasment against the dealer for his aggressive and violent behaviour towards you. Cancel your SX4 booking from Bimal immediately. I hope that everything gets back to normal for you.

[amitoj]

Very shocking to read your experience Sunson. I cant even begin to comprehend the trauma you must have suffered.

The presence of a good samaritan in the form of Ali gives a glimmer of hope though.

Originally Posted by nickatnite

Unlike in India, where one can default and no one can do anything about it. Really.

I suggest you come to India, take a personal loan of 10,000/- rupees from ICICI and default on it. You will get to know first hand what "recourses" are available here.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by nickatnite

I was contrite, knowing it was my fault, was respectful and the small crowd that (as always) gathered actually turned quite sympathetic, including the auto driver, who initially started cursing but quickly calmed down on seeing that i wasn't being aggressive.

Instead of this fine & sensible auto driver, what if he had been an arrogant madcap & confronted you with filthy language & cursed your 'relatives' & then demanded an outrageous amount or even tried beating you up ? What would you have done ? You know very well that there are umpteen number of aggressive arrogant rowdies as auto drivers.

Originally Posted by nickatnite

a motorbike driver brushed against my leg. I fell down and got some bruises. Guys around the place, quickly came to my assistance, got around the motorbike guy , who had stopped. The motorbike guy was apologetic and offered to take me to the hospital and all was well. I was put in an auto and i directed them to my family doctor's clinic. The guy paid for everything and even called me regularly for a few weeks to check if i was ok.

That is a sweet experience & as you would know by now a very rare experience too.

Originally Posted by amitoj

I suggest you come to India, take a personal loan of 10,000/- rupees from ICICI and default on it. You will get to know first hand what "recourses" are available here.

he is already in India & I am sure he knows what recourses are available.