[gearbox]

Good lord, Thank God they escaped with minor injuries. Absolutely sleep is extremely essential, should not push the body system too much.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by abhipuri

My parents had the trauma of going through a near fatal road accident. My Dad was driving the car and mother was co-passenger.

RIP I20, u shall be missed!

It is really fortunate that your parents survived this horrible crash. I hope they recover soon from their injuries.
Looking at the pictures it seems like the impact on the car and the truck was on the driver's side for both vehicles. I was wondering how this could happen in a frontal crash?

[abhipuri]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Anyway, dual airbags, abs and ebd may all be good. BUT look for cars that perform well in the small frontal overlap crash test. It isn't about build quality either because you will see Audi A4s and well built Fiat 500s failing this test. Buy a model launched in recent times. Something like the Ecosport post price reduction, looks good

Thanks for the kind suggestion mate. Sadly, Ecosport with all safety features is beyond our budget. This coupled with the absence of Ford dearlership in my hometown makes the matter worse.

Originally Posted by RSR

abhipuri, I'm relieved to hear that your parents .......
......
I must add that the new i20 is actually heavier than the old one. For instance, the older (i-gen) i20 Asta 1.2 VTVT weighs 1036 kg, while the equivalent new (Elite) i20 Asta 1.2 VTVT weighs 1080 kg.

Thanks for providing info on the weight mate. Even we are thinking of going for elite i 20 considering the massive weight difference b/w i 20 and baleno.

Originally Posted by RSR

At the same time, if you can afford it, try to go for a car that also has side & curtain airbags (6 in total), and Electronic Stability Program (ESP) if possible.
.....

Sadly, Ford ecosport would be too much of stretch for us at this point of time. Even though Figo has the necessary bells and whistles, it does not meet our other family requirements

Originally Posted by RSR

My wishes for your parents' complete recovery. Belt up and drive safe always!

Originally Posted by Pferdestarke

That's a horrendous crash. Hope everyone is doing well. .........

Thanks for the wishes fellow bhpians. Also, i would like to thank Team-bhp for putting the accident details on facebook. It helps in spreading the message loud and clear.

[RonXRi94]

Originally Posted by abhipuri

My parents had the trauma of going through a near fatal road accident. My Dad was driving the car and mother was co-passenger.

I'm glad OP's parents are safe, but frankly I'm not happy with the direction this discussion is taking.

OP's parents knew perfectly well they were sleep deprived. What made them think they can drive in such a condition? I see that everyone is sympathetic towards the parents even though it's clearly their own fault. I agree there's a wedding happening, but they could've easily taken other forms of transport or have asked someone else to drive.

What about the truck driver who got involved with an accident for no fault of his, just because a person who thinks he doesn't need sleep was out driving on the roads? I see that there isn't even any mention about the condition of the truck driver. Is he not also a human, and does he not deserve a mention about his condition after being on the receiving end of someone else's mistake? This is pure high-handedness on OP's part.

Fortunately, OP's i20 hit a strong truck, and I'm hoping the driver is all right. What if he had hit a tin can Alto? The i20's build quality and airbag would've saved it's occupants, but I'm sure that would've not been the case for the Alto. I, for one, wouldn't have been too happy about an i20 ramming into my car (even if it was a butch, indestructible SUV) just because the driver fell asleep.

Just my 2 cents.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by RonXRi94

I'm glad OP's parents are safe, but frankly I'm not happy with the direction this discussion is taking.

OP's parents knew perfectly well they were sleep deprived. What made them think they can drive in such a condition? ... .... ...

I don't think there was ever any question about who was at fault, which is why it may not have been dwelt on. If I remember correctly, the original post even mentions it as a lesson learnt.

We tend to get into a lot of discussion only in cases like guy rams tree: tree should not have grown there posts.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by RonXRi94

I'm glad OP's parents are safe, but frankly I'm not happy with the direction this discussion is taking.

I, for one, wouldn't have been too happy about an i20 ramming into my car (even if it was a butch, indestructible SUV) just because the driver fell asleep.

Just my 2 cents.

No one here is happy about this buddy. It's called an accident for a reason. I'm sure the truck driver is fine. Abhi is just shaken and understandably so, so you will have to excuse him if he hasn't provided enough details for your satisfaction. Perhaps asking would be a better way to go about it instead of taking such a harsh stance. Mistakes happen, people undertake more than they can handle in many aspects of life, often rather than not, impacting others too. Most accidents are human error afterall.

[abhipuri]

Originally Posted by RonXRi94

I'm glad OP's parents are safe, but frankly I'm not happy with the direction this discussion is taking.

OP's parents knew perfectly well they were sleep deprived. What made them think they can drive in such a condition?

Yes, I do admit it was my father's mistake. The accident could have been avoided had they opted for a driver. Father has vowed never to touch the wheel again even if he is feeling little bit sleepy.

Originally Posted by RonXRi94

What about the truck driver who got involved with an accident for no fault of his, just because a person who thinks he doesn't need sleep was out driving on the roads?

Forgot to mention this part. Truck driver sustained bruises on his head and hand. All his medical expenses were born by us. He didn't have any other major injury as confirmed by physical examination at the government hospital. He was discharged after first aid. We did apologise to the truck driver regarding this. We had also informed police not to take any action against the driver as it was our mistake. Also, out of courtsa settlement was done, details of which would be out of context in this thread.

My post in no way intends to glorify my father's mistake. This was not intentional and i just posted it on the right forum to warn fellow bhpians regarding the consequences of sleeplessness.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by abhipuri

.....
Forgot to mention this part. Truck driver sustained bruises on his head and hand. All his medical expenses were born by us. He didn't have any other major injury as confirmed by physical examination at the government hospital. He was discharged after first aid. We did apologise to the truck driver regarding this. We had also informed police not to take any action against the driver as it was our mistake.....

Kudos to you and your parents for being honest about the whole incident Many here might wonder what's the big deal, but have seen many 'educated' people squarely lay the blame on poor drivers just because they can.

Most people would have come up with some cock and bull theory of tyre burst and what not, but never admitted their own mistake.

On a related note, a close friend of mine was almost crushed by a car near infinity towers Gurgaon few years back, thanks to a sleep deprived call center employee who just dozed off and ran over my friend walking on the side of the road. Poor guy spent almost an year in bed due to multiple fractures on hip and leg.

[The Observer]

Truly relieved to hear your parents are safe, thank Almighty. Kudos to the i20, in fact 6 months earlier - down south in Madurai, my close friend in his new elite i20 had to swerve left to avoid hitting an overtaking biker and ended up colliding with a tree at around 60 kmph , the car took the brunt, airbags deployed and he was belted up, the guy walked out with minor scratches. So i20 is definitely proving itself to be safe in frontal collisions while i know of a fatal accident when there was side impact.

For your next car you can definitely re-look at the elite i20. Other contenders are the Punto, Polo, Jazz in my opinion. The new Figo also as its the only hatch ( <10 Lakhs ) that offers side airbags too. Apart from these the Bolt and Zest too may be good contenders.

Wishing you and family safe and happy motoring !

[bblost]

My daughter is not yet 6.

She has always been in a age appropriate child seat. Even she knows that when she draws herself sitting in a car the seat belt must be there.

[ashis89]

Mods might move it to relevant thread if desirable. I created a separate thread as I thought this was a serious problem.

I have heard many people argue on the importance of safety features such as ABS, airbags or something as rudimentary as a seat belt. Their argument: "I have been driving for x/xx years and I never had any accident". Several taxi drivers also behave the same way and remove their belts once they are out of city limits, away from the Traffic Police's eyes. Even my father has such opinion and its difficult to make him understand. He does wear the belt when he travels with me but things change when he is back in his official car.

The other day, I met a person at an accessories shop. He had bought a new Swift VDi but was smitten by friend's Baleno Alpha. Talks ensued and he expressed his feelings that he so wanted the Baleno but waiting period put him off. He loved those fancy headlamps and the touch screen etc. So he bought the next best option. I, then, asked him if it was the 'Option' variant and he denied proudly. He said he was a very good driver and that, such features as the airbag and ABS, were unnecessary and waste of money. He was more interested in the SmartPlay system (another source of distraction, from my experience) and wanted to know if he could retrofit it.

My friend, who got the Baleno with those "fancy headlamps" and touchscreen, never believed in wearing the seatbelts in his airbag equipped car. Once I braked hard on an empty stretch and I told him what the airbags can do. He understood and wears the belt at all times.

These experiences made me wonder if I was going wrong somewhere and whether these people have developed very good reflexes over the years. So, I gave some thought to their arguments and here are some my views.

In the past xx years,
1. Our automobiles or machines (cars/trucks/buses/2-wheelers/3-wheelers etc) have come to have significantly more powerful engines. They accelerate much faster and attain much higher speeds without breaking a sweat.

2. The speed barrier of these vehicles have shot up considerably.

3. Vehicle dynamics and brakes have improved which instill confidence to do the above discussed speeds.

4. Road conditions have improved which again instill confidence to attain the above speeds.

5. The road risks are pretty much the same which were present earlier. Ignoring the risk of break down, the other risks are due to the external 'stray' elements and the co-users of the road. They have hardly changed. Rather they come equipped with more potent weapons which instill a lot of confidence in them (discussed above).

6. Not completely relevant but now these machines come fully loaded with features which are a source of distraction too. These distractions can be catastrophic at the above mentioned speeds, ABS or no ABS. Earlier automobiles had distraction only in terms of a temp gauge and a fuel gauge mostly.


If you look carefully, there is an imbalance considering the improvement in one field and near stagnation in another. To balance this equation to a certain extent, a few safety features were also added. But, most of them are useless in front of man's ignorance.

A real life example: the person who drove a Mahindra 540 at 60kmph is driving the Bolero at 120-130kmph (my dad's driver). But he refuses to wear his seat belt because it's "not required". Mostly, he isn't caught as it's a Govt. vehicle. Sometimes when he is stopped, he proudly says the official's name and is let off. I have told him a few times but of no avail.

If you ignored my blabbering above (I'm sorry) and you reading this point directly, let me get to the point.
How to educate the mass about the potential threats the current motoring conditions possess and the importance of safety features to minimize these threats?

[samaspire]

The easiest thing for us to do is to try and influence the people we know to use safety features. Inform / Request / Scare / Threaten Whatever works.

Another thing that might work is if all the movies / tv shows, show people wearing seat belts while driving. Media is a great influencer.

[vtecker]

Educational videos help. Can these be broadcast on TVs movie theatres during intervals ? Point is that to watch and see often important than just saying wear seat belt. Compulsory video watching before DL issuance and renewals.

[srvm]

@ashis89: You've made lot of pertinent points in your OP.
Its most frustrating to see dear ones & friends driving with disregard to safety - not wearing seat belts, children/babies without proper seat, choosing alloy wheels and fancy infotainment systems over airbags, ABS etc.

I agree totally with Samaspire.
Instead of trying to educate masses first, we can try to educate our family, friends, colleagues first - we stand a better chance of making them understand. But we'll need loads of patience and persistence.

I have had partial success with 3 of my colleagues so far in the last few months. Convinced one guy to wear seat belts even while driving inside the city. Convinced another one to buy a car with ABS & Airbags. In the process of convincing another colleague to buckle up his sons and not to let them stand in the front passenger area during their daily commute to school.

[Amit_breakfree]

This is a serious problem and is getting worse day by day.

One of the easiest way to do this will be creating videos like they have done for tobacco use and they showcase it in movie theaters and television sets. The gruesome images can at least change the perception and mentality of few people and hopefully it will be a welcome move.

Also teaching about road safety in schools will be a welcome move. Why can't we have a 30 mins class per week/month on road safety so that the idea of safety is inculcated in the minds from a very young age.

More than government regulations, self regulation will be important here. Government can't install cameras and traffic policemen all over the country. They are meant to enhance the security rather than checking every other user.