[rulerofsun]

I was going to buy the VW Polo but I decided against it due to its only 3 cylinder engine. But never knew that it had also such problems.[/quote]

I am sorry but I beg to differ. Princess Diana died in a Top of the line Merc... the point is the man is safe!. Frontosa wasl lucky or had God on his side but he was also in a wel built car. GTO mentioned a few posts earlier that if you have to meet with an accident better meet it in a german car.

I met with an accident in 1999 with my Tta Etate. It was monsoon and I was returing late evening my car aquaplaned and Ifell offf a bridge over over 40 feet. It was the structural stability of my car that I walked out of it without a scratch tough the car was totalled.

There are many factors in an accident and any of those could be the reason for a cars safety features to fail.

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[RICK004]

@ Frontosa

Wishes for your new life. Cheers that the Polo worked for you in incident.
As for Frontal airbags they will not deploy unless the impact is from the front as stated earlier.It is clear from your pictures the front seems less impacted. Frontal airbags also have three ranges speed wise

1. Not Fire < 25 km/hr
2. Gray Zone >25 & <35 Km/hr
3.Must fire >35km/hr

Curtain airbag would have been deployed in your vehicle if equipped cause the sensor rests in B-pillar . Drive Safe mate.
Thank my friend working in safety simulations for the inputs.

[F1amit]

@ Frontosa

Good to hear that you are safe and sound. I saw black polo (damaged very badly) on 15-Aug while travelling to Kolhapur from Mumbai. Probably it was the same car. First thing came in mind was about what would have happend to passengers.
However its good to hear that you have escaped this accident.

[Dieseldunk]

[quote=Frontosa;2875330]Thank you all for your messages. I'm attaching few more pics which may assist in analyzing if at all.

One more question:
Car had Yoko S-drives but they still skid.. why is that?
Also Polo has 2 airbags, no curtains

Mate you seem to be one of the chosen ones and really had a miraculous survival. Reminds me of the Bond movie - You only live twice.

Keep pinching yourself everyday.

The best part is that you were not overspeeding and you were hit at a tangent by a heavier vehicle (Newton Laws were perfectly factored for this)and thus were sent into a spin (even tyres or ABS do not help much when the skid is in circular motion, since the traction point is lost against the itensity of spin added to by the weight of the vehicle.

Interestingly this is the ways cops restrain a seriously erring driver if he escapes after causing a near catastrophe (in the USA/UK)

I usually believe in this statement made by my Uncle " Remember even the best of machines can give you the slip so never go only with the solid backing of the drive you do trust more in yourself and prepare for the worst" now I believe in this statement more firmly.

[aravind511]

Happy to hear that you came out alive and safe from that crushed piece of metal !!
Thanks to God and VW build quality!!

Since you were driving on the express-way, the truck which hit your car should have been coming behind. And he should definitely have been doing upwards of 80 kmph on that curve on a truck. Heights of irresponsible driving !!

What happened to him after that? Was that a hit-and-run or did you get to meet him later?

[babu.sundaram]

@Frontosa

Welcome to second life! Breathe easy, recover in full and start driving again!
Man, I shudder to imagine one inside the car in pic!

Is it unfortunate that a well known Yoko didn't come to help when needed? Should airbag have deployed? or with all these spins and falls would it have suffocated you? There can be so many questions and consequential analysis.

But whatever it is, you were lucky, so much that not only you came out in shape (yes, good compared to the car's condition post the accident) and no one else got hurt. I would even go to the extent to say car is lucky considering the damage it has endured. Leave memories behind, count your blessings and start fresh!

Again, wish you a speedy recovery into normalcy!

[Dr.Suraj]

Originally Posted by Frontosa

The duct you see in one picture has RCC walls on all 4 sides. My polo crashed into one of it, broke it completely & I fell inside with the car upside down.

Others are the car pics :(

GOD BLESS YOU !!!!

This is really hard to swallow. I have a lump in my throat reading this.

Thank God you have just a few broken ribs. Looking at the pics its unbelievable!

But seriously the question does arise ... why did the airbags not deploy?

Wish you a very very very speedy recovery.

[srishiva]

Was the rigid build responsible for bursting the wall without absorbing the impact well. Or is it because it hit the wall sideways (with a little jump off) hence the crumple zone would not have acted.
The right side of the vehicle doesnt seem to have suffered similar to the left side. Thank God. I cant imagine how it could have felt, although it would be sort of suspended disbelief.

[RICK004]

Originally Posted by Dr.Suraj

GOD BLESS YOU !!!!


But seriously the question does arise ... why did the airbags not deploy?

The crash sensors are located in the long members behind the Front Bumper for PAB & DAB .Under impact this transmits signal to ECU to close the SRS system circuit. In this case, probably (hinted from the pics) the front impact did not occur to deploy the bags.

[hocuspocus]

@ Frontosa

I guess it's by God's grace that you live to tell the tale. You were blessed for a second chance ..... Live it to your content!


Upon going through the entire blog, I've few points to raise:

- After the accident, did you happen to notice if the Polo had fuel auto cutoff/Fire Prevention System(FPS) enabled? If yes, Did it work?

- The RCC wall which you hit and fell into the canal is hardly 2 feet high compared to the road surface (as i could make out from the pic attached). Isn't this a disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was you inside a sturdy car that fell into it. Had it been a two wheeler, I couldn't imagine the result. Also, as per me, it should have a covering of some sort(maybe grill) in order to avoid anyone falling inside it.

- As for airbags, it should have deployed as per me even though it was not a frontal impact but the amount of de-acceleration/impact was enough to trigger the sensors. The standard reply which you received from VW is just a mere excuse to get away into getting a claim/lawsuit.

Also, I agree with members in the forum about Aquaplaning. It's a unforeseen circumstance which is hardly noticed while driving. Aquaplaning is a silent killer for surface transport as mircrobursts are to aircrafts.

It's so sad to see carmakers treating safety as luxury and not a necessity. When same cars are exported, you can see it's loaded with safety features as compared to the Indian version.

Cheers !

[OffDaBeemer]

first of all, congratulations on your second lease of life, looking at the pics, i guess some miracle happened there for sure!!!

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Man !! You are lucky and God IS with you. Thank god nothing big happened. I am shaken by just reading this incident, I can imagine how you would have felt.

You can request VW to analyse why the car did not open its airbag. The only probablity that i can think of is the sensor circuit would have jammed on impact. There have been instances of Air bag opening when Polo hit a curb at 40 kmph. This should have inflated the airbag.


Another safer Car? Only A volvo or an Innova V.

airbags are meant to get activated when there is an impact, in this case though the impact started at the left-rear, there was a strong enough impact on the front as well to blow up the bags, so i believe the airbags weren't functional

[eagles_ts]

@ Frontosa - You are indeed God's special child. Truly amazing that you're around with us to share this ordeal.

I think the car did its job really well, notwithstanding the airbags bit. I can't see you buying anything outside the VW family in the future .

[blackasta]

Frontosa - you are now a 'born again' bhpian (If you don't mind me saying that)!
Thank your lucky stars and the team VW - people have been killed in lesser accidents.

I had a narrow escape couple of years back, though not as dangerous as yours.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ence-blvd.html

[Hrishiz]

Originally Posted by PranavDesai

Frontosa, whether it was Divine Intervention or the laws of physics or your good deeds of the past that got you out of this accident can be a debate for those who are interested, but you are alive and healthy to tell this tale is the most important thing for you and your family. You should surely celebrate August 14 as your second birthday. Based on my limited knowledge I suggest the following cars as your next buy: Polo/Vento/Jetta, Punto/Linea.

I wish you a speedy (mental) recovery.

Quite well said.

I am a layman when it comes to cars. I used to think that airbag will get deployed in case of impacts on any sides. (I agree it was a dumb thought).

Frontosa, hopefully you have recovered by now and are raring to go. I really appreciate you sharing the incident with us. I am sure at least I got to learn lot of things I had not known before.

May God continue to be with you

[dbaapps]

@ Frontosa
It is good to know that you are alive. My observations on this road accident.
I have spend 12 years of my early life in Khandala and Lonavala, I know I am not an expert here but my 2 cents .
1. Road specially cement once become slippery in this places as they grow fungus because of rain ,and I mean lots of it in this area. So suggestion is to slow down to more manageable 60 KM.
2.I see pictures and observed that left front tire has less trade pattern in middle. I may be wrong but please check this once again all the tires . This may be a main reason to your accident on curve.

So in short everybody should drive slowly at this place , especially in rainy season as fungus grows when there is lots of water on the road and leads to loosing the grip of tier.
3. You should check with VW why the airbags did not open, airbags open when their is certain force is applied on a pad where sensor send signal to open it in less than 30 milliseconds of impact. Something does not work here , mostly the sensor did not work .