[gurha]

Hello everyone,

Just thought of creating a new thread where everyone who has been in an accident can point out the lessons which they learnt with the accident.

@Mods, In case there is already an existing thread which discusses these please merge this new thread to that.

IMHO, I think we should mention in the last of our post about the lessons which we learnt which would give an overview to others and they could avoid doing those mistakes when traveling and especially when traveling in those areas.

Story Begins
----------------------

Yes, The day finally came to me after I have driven for more than 30K km in around 6 years of my driving. (which no body wants to see, but there are something which are beyond our will).

The incident happened, while I was traveling from Mysore to Belur I missed the turn which my trusted MMI failed to guide me properly, I should have taken right when I entered Bangalore-Mangalore highway while coming out from SH-7 which goes to Arsikere I continued straight as per the instructions I got from MMI.

After continuing straight for around 8 Km, it asked me to take right which through a village and joins me back to the Bangalore-Mangalore highway, and then I realized that I've actually taken a wrong route. But then I checked it was only about 10km distance and then it joins me back to the highway, I thought of continuing on the same route. My first mistake.

While I was driving in the village, Doddakaradevu near Shanthi Gram some 20 km from Hasan, since it was around 11:30 pm, I was happily going around 60-70 Kmph and then after traveling some 5-6 Km there was one turn, I put on the brakes but didn't tried to put it hard(my second mistake) as I didn't wanted to disturb my two sister-in-laws sitting at the back seat, and turned the steering only to realize that the turn was very sharp and then I put on the brakes further to reduce the speed, but by then I realized that the car will come out of the road, I didn't panicked and thought even if one tyre goes out of the road, shouldn't be a problem and I continued and then the car hit a big stone which was down the road and with a bang car stopped.

As I always travel with my seat belts on and I make sure everybody sitting in my car is wearing a seat belt, none of us were hurt. And this is where I liked Duster the most. I can't say about any other car I have not driven them but the car just stood at its place, I didn't even felt a jerk when the car hit the stone. The car was pretty stable and I think some cars may have toppled with the kind of impact I had. The bad part on my side was I forgot to take any pictures which could show the impact I had.

And then all of a sudden, where I couldn't see a single person, I was surrounded by around 10-15 people yelling at me in Kannada(the language which I understand very little) and telling me to go slow. I apologized to them and said yes, I will drive slowly now and wanted to get out of there asap. I tried to move the car but the car didn't moved at all. I got down the car and checked the tyre and found it to be fine with air in the tyre and then got back and tried to move the car again. Even then the car didn't moved an inch, I thought may be the stone is on the way so I asked people to push the car, they tried but that didn't worked at all.

And then some people standing on the left hand side were telling me tyre cut agi dia, which means tyre is cut, I got down and then I checked the tyre properly and I found out the axle has broken. And then I realized that nothing can be done and tried to call 24x7 road side assistance and then I found out that vodafone doesn't work there. And we had three vodafone connections.

Then there was some light of hope, one person(Harsha) came to me and told I am going to Hasan, do you want a ride? He told me that he is traveling with his wife and kid and going to Hasan, if we want we can go with him. He had a Bolero. After some discussions with my sister and two sister in laws we decided to leave the car their in the village and go to Hasan and then call 24x7 Road side assistance and then will see what to do.

We get into his car and thanked him and his wife for waiting for us and then moved out of the crash site. And then Harsha gave us his phone(BSNL) which had network and then I called 24x7 road side assistance. Those guys told me that they will arrange the towing vehicle and call me back in 30 min. We waited in the same village some km away from the crash site for 30 min. Then called again, they said we are still trying and told me that they will get back to me in 20 min.

After another 30 min when I tried calling their toll free number, which is by the way the only number, was not reachable. I tried continuously for 1 hour and it kept saying 'The route is busy, please call after some time'. I don't know if that is possible or not, but it looked like to me that they have intentionally disconnected the line somehow. Otherwise it can't be possible that for more than 1 hour the route is busy.

In the mean time Harsha asked me whether I want to wait there or go to Hasan and find out a taxi and a towing vehicle. I said yes, please take us to Hasan and then then we will find out towing vehicle and taxi from there. We reached Hasan around 1:15. When we reached Hasan he stopped the car near two police guys and then he asked them if there is any towing vehicle which can tow my loving car? After making some 5-10 calls we got one towing company and they said they will come in 30 min. Harsha took us all to his house though we told him to just take us to some hotel and then we will wait for the taxi(number we got over internet) but he took us all to his house.

I tried calling Renault again before actually booking the towing vehicle and then around 2:30 - 3 those people told me that they are unable to arrange the towing vehicle as the towing vehicle has gone somewhere else. I thought of beating them but calmed myself and finalized the towing vehicle to tow the car to Bangalore after I came to know there is no Renault service station in Hasan.

I left others at his house and then went to get taxi and towing vehicle. After I got the towing vehicle and the taxi I went back to his house and then we all left in the taxi and the towing vehicle to the village to take my car. Me and my sister and two sister in laws thanked him from the bottom of our hearts and left his house. I can't image what we would have done in that village with no network and no knowledge of local language. It took around an hour to actually make it flawlessly towed to Bangalore.

Took the car straight to Renault whitefield service station and its still there till now. :(

The only reason I made this story so long was because of the fact, I wanted to point out the mistakes which I did and I have learnt few lessons which I would like to mention.

Lessons Learnt:
1. If you think that you should not be driving through the village when you are traveling only on highways, you should turn back to the same position from where you were misguided and check if you actually have to take that route.
2. While driving in a village, even if in the off hours, I would suggest not to go beyond 50 kmph, atleast I won't go from now on, as there can be plenty of situations which you might face. And during that time, I would say we will hardly be 5 min extra late. And the most important don't hesitate to put on the brakes, as putting the brakes would have disturbed the back seat persons but this situation may not have happened.

Few lessons which I learnt from Reanult india perspective which I would like my fellow Renault India owners should know.

From Renault India Perspective:
1. Please don't completely be dependent on 24x7 road side assistance, also try from your side to get as much help you can get which I did in my case for towing my car.
2. And in case you are towing your car, then you can claim the entire amount to Renault India. Which they have promised to pay me after I have called them so many times and shouted.

[GTO]

Hats off to Harsha. Now, that's a good samaritan. He clearly went out of his way to help you out

The less said about Renault's road-side assistance, the better.

Keep us in the loop on your SUV's repairs, insurance reimbursement and quality of work performed. Hopefully, the Duster hasn't suffered anything more severe than a broken axle.

[TheG2]

Dear gurha,
Sorry to read about your experience. And as GTO said, Hats off to Harsha and his family.

The "24x7 ROAD SIDE ASSISTANCE" by not just Renault but most of the companies is just a selling trick. It is nothing more that saying 'All is well' to yourself.
I have had my share of bad experiences with similar "24x7 ROAD SIDE ASSISTANCE" from Mahindra.

Hope you are not subjected to any further trouble by the ASC and you get your loved car soon.

[MaxTorque]

A very sad incident but nice to hear that you and your family are safe. Also we should appreciate the good Samaritan (Harsha) for extending all help. We need more people like him.

Now coming to "Renault 24X7 Road Side Assistance" may be the delay happened due to the location of the incident. I am not defending the maker but telling another perspective. I too have opted for similar assistance from another manufacturer. In my opinion the road assistance program works well in city limits only.

[ghodlur]

Sad to know that you had an accident and that you had to bear with Renault's callous attitude but glad to know that the occupants were safe and the good Samaritan helped you going out of his way. Indeed goodness does exists,

Were you able to connect to the Renault's RSA number at all even after towing the car to the workshop? Did you lodge a complaint with Renault regarding the same?

Would be keenly watching this thread for the repairs and Insurance claims. I hope Renault does not disappoint you further with their unseen surprises.

[gurha]

Originally Posted by GTO

Hats off to Harsha. Now, that's a good samaritan. He clearly went out of his way to help you out

The less said about Renault's road-side assistance, the better.

Keep us in the loop on your SUV's repairs, insurance reimbursement and quality of work performed. Hopefully, the Duster hasn't suffered anything more severe than a broken axle.

Thanks GTO. I was actually out of words to say thanks to him. I've promised him that whenever I will be crossing Hasan next time, I would give him a visit. I hope that happens soon and I can meet him again.

The car is just standing in the so called ASC as of now. Its been more than 4 days and those guys haven't even dismantled the car and found out what all has actually broken. The SA has got the approval from the insurance person on tuesday to dismantle the car and find out what all is broken, but they haven't got time in two days to take the car to the ramp and dismantle it. SA tells me everyday that it will be done today, and whenever I call in the evening, its not done. The same story is going on from last 2 days.

BTW, When I went to the ASC yesterday, I saw there were cars which were standing there since last 4-5 months, when I asked the SA he mentioned that the parts has to come from France as only factory in India which is in Chennai was burnt to ashes some three months ago in May.

He told me that there are some parts which are not available with them and they have ordered the same and the same should come in a weeks time, but now I have serious doubts whether the SA has actually done anything or he's just lying and trying to buy some time.

About Duster: Yes, the car is good, there is no doubt about that, but in case you are stuck with some spare parts for your car, its currently a nightmare. Just praying to God that I get my car before Dusherra, as I've to go to my in-laws place which is going to be the most important time of my life as my wife's expecting.

Originally Posted by TheG2

Dear gurha,
Sorry to read about your experience. And as GTO said, Hats off to Harsha and his family.

The "24x7 ROAD SIDE ASSISTANCE" by not just Renault but most of the companies is just a selling trick. It is nothing more that saying 'All is well' to yourself.
I have had my share of bad experiences with similar "24x7 ROAD SIDE ASSISTANCE" from Mahindra.

Hope you are not subjected to any further trouble by the ASC and you get your loved car soon.

Thanks TheG2, well the experience hasn't been good at all till now either with their so called 24x7 road side assistance or with the so called ASC. But, yes the point to note here is that Renault is atleast willing to reimburse the amount which I paid to the towing company even though I don't even have the bill as of now, thats the only positive that I can actually grasp at this moment.

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

A very sad incident but nice to hear that you and your family are safe. Also we should appreciate the good Samaritan (Harsha) for extending all help. We need more people like him.

Now coming to "Renault 24X7 Road Side Assistance" may be the delay happened due to the location of the incident. I am not defending the maker but telling another perspective. I too have opted for similar assistance from another manufacturer. In my opinion the road assistance program works well in city limits only.

MaxTorque, Yes, I can agree that 24x7 road side assistance works wonder in city limits and may have issues with out of city limits. I am completely fine with it. The only thing which I didn't liked was that I didn't got proper response from them.

If they would have told me, before I waited n waited n waited and kept trying to call their toll free number for more than 2 hours, 'Sir we are not able to provide the towing vehicle at this point'. I probably wouldn't have spent so much time in that village hoping that some help will come. Thats the only thing I didn't liked about the assistance, you can't help me, fine, atleast tell that to the customer so that we could do something else.

[NPV]

Sorry to hear about the accident, hope you get your Duster back soon after the repairs. Keep us posted on the repairs bit if you don't mind sharing that information, I'm sure it will help others.

It's people like Harsha who still make the world a better place to live
Apart from slower speeds on these narrower/'village' roads I would suggest keeping to highways where possible especially during night time drives.

Not encouraging at all to hear about the response/attitude from Renault roadside assistance - Being unable to get the vehicle towed away from a far away/remote place is one thing, not even making an attempt to make alternate arrangements or even calling back the distressed customer is an altogether different thing! We need responsible and empathetic people to be in charge of managing these services otherwise it's of no use.

[MaxTorque]

Originally Posted by gurha

Yes, I can agree that 24x7 road side assistance works wonder in city limits and may have issues with out of city limits. I am completely fine with it. The only thing which I didn't liked was that I didn't got proper response from them.

I got your point. By the way Royal Sundaram is also offering road side assistance program as an additional facility with their motor vehicle insurance. They have tie up with My TVS. I think they have better coverage in towns.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by gurha

when I asked the SA he mentioned that the parts has to come from France as only factory in India which is in Chennai was burnt to ashes some three months ago in May.
.

For which part is this and what is te name of the company. I find that rather hard to believe!

[Wildy]

gurha, Very sorry about this sad incident. But happy to know all of you were safe. And thanks to Harsha and his family for providing great help in that time.

In January 2013, when I was traveling from Hampi to Anantapur along with my uncle, I lost my way and gone to an intense rural area where the roads were horrible. Fortunately, nothing happened to car or to us and a guy helped us to get into right path. I still be thankful to him.

[gaurav_diavolo]

You are lucky.

A friend of mine in a similar incident last year was unnecessarily slapped by the random villagers (Rajasthan) just because he lost control and his Ford Endeavor crashed in someone's mud wall and they thought he was drunk. He was so scared even when he told the story on our way back (me and other friend went to bring them back) that his wife was asked to step out of the car and random people hooted at her and many hands made numerous attempt to grope her. He was then asked questions like 'iss gao mein kya kar raha hai? Akela ladka ladki mauka dekh rahe the kya? Kahan se laya isse? Kahan rehta hai? Shadi ki hai to maang kyu nahin bhari, jhoot bolta hai?'.

To his good luck few senior villagers appeared from nowhere and asked others to let go. He gave away 4500 in cash (all he had in wallet) and his gold ring (worth 25k atleast) to the villager who's wall (of mud!!!) was broken. He wasnt even given water until he really requested for it and his wife was made to sit in senior member's house on floor (while his wife sat on cot). She was very decently dressed in top and trousers but still repeated comments were made by women 'aurat aise nahin nikalti ghar se'. It was an area not covered by any tow service and one of them asked for 5k. Me and another friend we left with water bottles, towels, spare wheel (only damage was that both wheels got punctured landing on barbed wires for goats), another SUV and my Civic.

Villagers treated us like aliens but we got the job done. While leaving the place my friend and his wife still thanked the couple of good people but just when we left people from crowd started hooting names to my friend's wife. I have learnt that I will never diverge from highway into villages ever in my life. In my native village too in rajasthan I am never casual while driving. Its a fact that villagers look at city people like aliens and with very few rational approach prevails. Whenever I meet them I only feel sad about his wife for going through this cheapness and unexpected behaviour for no fault of hers. Being a man myself my eyes are full of apology for her that someone of my kind caused her mental torturer she will remember for life. I now also keep in mind that I do not start long distance journey with women with me very late at night.

[ad3952n]

Hi team, It happened to me in 2008 October at Maharani bagh New Delhi, In the afternoon i was returning from my college in South Ex driving my Esteem with the driver sitting on the front passenger seat both of us with seat belts. As i approached the DND flyway a black alto applied brakes suddenly and i too just managed to turn the car left from behind him, eventually i could not save it and banged from my right side. My car's bonnet, bumper and ac compressor and radiator fan got damaged and the Alto's rear left side was smashed by me.

I learnt that day, that driving safely requires maintaing adequate breaking distance from the vehicle in front.

AD

[gurha]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Were you able to connect to the Renault's RSA number at all even after towing the car to the workshop? Did you lodge a complaint with Renault regarding the same?

Would be keenly watching this thread for the repairs and Insurance claims. I hope Renault does not disappoint you further with their unseen surprises.

Thanks ghodlur for your concern. Yes, I did called them when I brought my car to Bangalore and shouted them about all that happened. They have supposedly taken this to their higher management. And infact one of their manager is coming from Chennai to Bangalore tomorrow to meet me. Will keep you all posted about whats happening on both the front i.e. insurance and renault india

And not to forget, the whitefield renault probably did escalated this when I forwarded the email which I sent to renault india customer care to them, because of which renault india has taken it bit seriously. As this isn't the first time that this has happened as per the CRM at Renault Whitefield office.

Originally Posted by NPV

Sorry to hear about the accident, hope you get your Duster back soon after the repairs. Keep us posted on the repairs bit if you don't mind sharing that information, I'm sure it will help others.

It's people like Harsha who still make the world a better place to live
Apart from slower speeds on these narrower/'village' roads I would suggest keeping to highways where possible especially during night time drives.

Definitely, I will update this thread whenever there is any visible progress on my car.

And yes, there are still good people around because of humanity is still alive.

Also, thanks for your concern and advice, next time I'm going to be a bit more cautious, and as per the old saying 'with great power comes great responsibility'.

Originally Posted by ajmat

For which part is this and what is te name of the company. I find that rather hard to believe!

SA told me that most of the spare parts are getting shipped form France. And I didn't get your point of 'What is the name of the company?'

When I went to their accident section, there were two cars(both Dusters), one had some engine thing broken, as the car collapsed to a tree at a very high speed, the only thing which I liked was that duster absorbed most of the shock as the bonet was all the way squeezed till the windshield instead of car toppling over, was their since March. The other car had more or less same impact I had but on the opposite side i.e. on the Right was there since April.

When I checked with the SA whats the possibility that my car would be ready soon as the other car is getting ready now, he told sir we have already ordered the spare parts and they should receive them by next week. Not sure how much its true.

I also searched over the internet for the news regarding fire in renault chennai factory and I found only one news and nothing more.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/fi...chennai-364964

Originally Posted by gaurav_diavolo

You are lucky.
I now also keep in mind that I do not start long distance journey with women with me very late at night.

Gaurav, yes I was certainly very lucky. But, after living for 8 years in south india(Bangalore), I know this much that South india esp. Karnataka is a much better place to live as compared to North, even though you speak the same language which others do, in north, there are many who just want to make use of the situation. Here I dont even speak their local language people didn't do any harm to me, but yes I also didn't hit anything, which may have changed my perspective, but till date I really like Kannadigas, yes some do have problem about north indians coming to bangalore but then there are all kinds of people in India.

I also personally don't like to do long drives in the night because of the same reason. I hope someday we all can drive freely drive at whatever time we want to in India.

[Wildy]

Not to offend any, But few places in Bihar, UP and Rajasthan are having nothing short of Barbarian Culture. Iam very sorry to know about your friend's wife, gaurav_diavolo. Those villagers are nothing but animals. I appreicate your great help to your friend and his family when they were need and helpless. Keep up that spirit.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by gurha

SA told me that most of the spare parts are getting shipped form France. And I didn't get your point of 'What is the name of the company?'

.

I meant the name of the company supplying the part. The Renault factory looked unburnt when I visited a month ago!