[swiftnfurious]

Thank God you are your wife are safe.

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

...What ensued was 10 second mayhem:
- A two-wheeler suddenly appears out of the left roadside bank and proceeds to slowly cross the road diagonally without looking!...

I am kind of fuming! How many people did this one moron managed to put at risk; and all of them for NO mistake of theirs.

Surprised a bit, thought if it was a plain road, would NOT the Laura have drifted and stopped? Or did it roll over after moving off the road and getting into an improper surface?

I know any car could roll over with a sudden evasive maneuver, but thought this car is one of the most stable too.

Anyway I hope all your worries are taken care of soon and you end up buying a safer & better car and also enjoy more drives.

[BackInTheFold]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I agree with Santosh on the idea of heading to the highway with that combo set of pads and tyres as tyres indeed need some run-in period to come into its being.Glad to know that you and your wife are safe. It makes me feel sad as I was on Salem route just couple of days ago to your incident and again on return on Dec 30th.

Thanks. As I'd mentioned in my response to Santosh, the tires and the pads had been on for about 500km's before this highway run.

I read your Kodai travelogue. This is on a different route. Salem -> Ammapettai bypass and branching off before Ulundurpet. The roads you drove on are stellar.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Btw, can you post some more pics of the Laura as mentioned by others, I dont think its manged except for damage to front and shattered windsheild. Perhaps, i could be wrong

What are next steps with Insurance?

Think again (wry smile here). The car is wrecked. The engine is stoved in and the sump broken, shell compromised etc. The insurance claim is currently being processed as a total loss since the repair estimate is nearly 1.5x the price of a new Octavia.

Below are a few more pictures

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

Think again (wry smile here). The car is wrecked. The engine is stoved in and the sump broken, shell compromised etc. The insurance claim is currently being processed as a total loss since the repair estimate is nearly 1.5x the price of a new Octavia.

Indeed it is a total loss. Somehow the first pic which was frontal didnt provide full nature of damage to car.

Once again glad that you guys are fine. Do keep us posted here what was the total loss insurance folks are offering.

[ad3952n]

Dear mate, Firstly wishing you and your better half with good wishes for returning safe and sound from a major mishap. Secondly, I would like to share that my father had a 21 year long relationship with the Skoda Group (He worked for their sister concern) so during his service period I had the privilege to visit their car manufacturing plant in Aurangabad twice. I can vouch for the strength of the car's body because I was a witness to the crash test of a Octavia (old-gen) and then a Laura (old-gen) over there. The safety features in Skoda cars are one of the best in class and after seeing the pictures above I just would like to say that the car protected you both with all its might. As Mridul sir (mints21) has rightly pointed out that streets are filled with fools so drive safe and all the best for your future journeys.

God Bless you.

Thanks

AD

[BackInTheFold]

A long-due post-accident update:

Soon after the accident, I'd called my insurer, ICICI Lombard, to register a claim. ICICI politely informed me that my policy covers only about Rs. 1,500 in towing charges and does not cover estimation charges/parking fees at the service station (Rs. 300 per day!). Since they insisted on mentioning a garage where the car would be taken to raise the claim, I called around a little bit before settling on Vinayak Motors, my usual service center in KR Puram.

It made logistical sense, even though the towing charges would be high - the insurance proceedings were expected to take a few weeks and repeated visits might be necessary. As such, keeping the car in Coimbatore and Salem would not be a viable option, even if I'd saved on the towing initially.

While waiting for friends and family to arrive, I called a few towing companies to find the best possible deal and got a decent quote for a platform truck based out of Salem (13,000 all inclusive). Also, based on the advice of the service advisor at Vinayak, I arranged for a police report from the nearest station stating their findings regarding the accident (i.e. nobody injured, driver not at fault etc.). ICICI had mentioned that no such report was necessary if nobody was injured in the incident, only to change their tune later - good that I got that out of the way. The police folks were very good about providing what was needed, particularly after a helpful call from a DGP uncle

The surveyor came a couple of days later to make an estimate and declared it to be a total-loss case. The exact nature of the process was and has still not been clearly laid out, though they keep mentioning a 3-4 week window. I've provided them copies of the following documents:
- My DL
- Registration papers
- Claim form
- PAN card copy
- Police report
- Photos of the car from various angles

We moved the car to a secure parking spot after the inspection to save on the parking charges. I'm the surveyor's new best friend - I now call him everyday and drop him a note on email also just to follow up. I hope to hear from the insurer this week on the next steps as I've been assured that I will.

I have Zero-Dep insurance and expect to be paid nothing less than the IDV minus compulsory deductible plus their towing reimbursement. I'll document my experience as the insurance saga unfolds.

In the meantime, my replacement car hunt has started in earnest. But that is another story (and another thread).

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

A long-due post-accident update:

Soon after the accident, I'd called my insurer, ICICI Lombard, to register a claim. ICICI politely informed me that my policy covers only about Rs. 1,500 in towing charges and does not cover estimation charges/parking fees at the service station (Rs. 300 per day!). Since they insisted on mentioning a garage where the car would be taken to raise the claim, I called around a little bit before settling on Vinayak Motors, my usual service center in KR Puram...

Best of luck with ICICI Lombard. Most insurance companies develop cold feet when it comes to a big payout but some are specifically known to have a feet of clay on deciding such cases. Unfortunately I have seen a few with ICICI Lombard in the past amongst my known cases. I ernestly hope they don't trouble you...

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

The surface was slightly broken tarmac with some gravel. Bone dry - not at all wet.

Thanks goodness you are all safe and healthy.
The European vehicles do have stronger shell and sheet metal.

I was reading about the ABS (especially in the carbible website). The ABS will not work great on sand and gravel. Because the braking effort does not get transmitted to the ground in case of ABS. Since the wheel locks very easily over sand/grit/gravel.

The ABS system in the endeavor to keep the wheels from locking, does not transmit the braking effort to the wheels. This increases the braking distance.

In fact wheels locking may provide better braking since the buildup of gravel in front of the skidding tyre increases the resistance.

The ABS is meant to only provide control. With wheels skidding you are skating on ice, and cannot control the direction via steering.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Thanks goodness you are all safe and healthy.
The European vehicles do have stronger shell and sheet metal.

I was reading about the ABS (especially in the carbible website). The ABS will not work great on sand and gravel. Because the braking effort does not get transmitted to the ground in case of ABS. Since the wheel locks very easily over sand/grit/gravel.

The ABS system in the endeavor to keep the wheels from locking, does not transmit the braking effort to the wheels. This increases the braking distance.

In fact wheels locking may provide better braking since the buildup of gravel in front of the skidding tyre increases the resistance.

The ABS is meant to only provide control. With wheels skidding you are skating on ice, and cannot control the direction via steering.

I think it will depend on the particle size of the sand or gravel. If it's fine sand then ABS will be effective but in case the size is bigger then you are right with the build up of gravel helping braking even if wheels are locked. But then you need enough quantity of gravel for a build up. I doubt it was the case here.

ABS is not only meant to provide control, it's main function is to reduce braking distance. ESP, TCS are the ones which are meant to provide control by providing appropriate braking to particular wheel so that car doesn't go off track.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

I think it will depend on the particle size of the sand or gravel. If it's fine sand then ABS will be effective but in case the size is bigger then you are right with the build up of gravel helping braking even if wheels are locked. But then you need enough quantity of gravel for a build up. I doubt it was the case here.

ABS is not only meant to provide control, it's main function is to reduce braking distance. ESP, TCS are the ones which are meant to provide control by providing appropriate braking to particular wheel so that car doesn't go off track.

Even in case of sand ABS will be less effective.
The sand (like gravel) also builds up in front of the locked tyre, this piling "mountain" of sand offers much higher resistance than a rotating wheel on level sandy surface.

If you remember (perhaps in childhood) dragging stuff on sand is always much more difficult than something with rotating wheels (a skate for example - dragged upside vs downside).

Also in case the layer of sand/gravel is pretty thin - then again ABS or no ABS will make no difference - because the wheel slip will not allow braking to happen in case of ABS, and in case of non ABS, the locked wheels will skim over the thin layer of sand/gravel which act like bearings.

As I said before ABS only allows you to use steering. But twisting the steering sharply will lead you to overturn the vehicle. In case of non ABS, you will keep skidding till the wheels-ground system somehow gain friction (or obstruction) and then you would overturn.

ABS helps with braking distance only on paved roads. Where sliding tyres offer less friction than rolling tyres. And thus keeping the wheels spinning is better way to transfer braking forces. Of course if you have tyres that are sticky and soft types - then even this doesn't hold true.

[BackInTheFold]

Quick update for the day:

I wrote a polite and firm email to the surveyor and his manager best summarized as "What the hell?". I followed it up with a call to the call center. I was promptly connected to the Bangalore lead for surveyors.

Not much to show for all the stalking except apologetic platitudes and the contact number of the person in the salvage team who can apparently provide more information. The plan is to call this chap tomorrow.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

[[*]gratitude that our 4-year old who usually accompanies us was spending his Xmas break at the grandparents; [*]gratitude that we had long established a habit of always belting up;

Glad to hear all is well. Hope ICICIL doesn't play foul now.

Also, did you have a car seat for your child and was he/she always belted in? One of the major reason you and your wife are unhurt is because of the seatbelts which prevented severe neck injuries during rollover!

[BackInTheFold]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Glad to hear all is well. Hope ICICIL doesn't play foul now.

Also, did you have a car seat for your child and was he/she always belted in? One of the major reason you and your wife are unhurt is because of the seatbelts which prevented severe neck injuries during rollover!

Yes - we have car seats in both our cars. All of us belt in as a matter of routine whenever we get in the car, regardless of whether it is a run around the corner or a long road trip.

[honeybee]

A stupid question maybe but what speed were you driving at to have caused a rollover while trying to avoid the village traffic?
Could a lesser speed have avoided this damage?

[BackInTheFold]

Originally Posted by honeybee

A stupid question maybe but what speed were you driving at to have caused a rollover while trying to avoid the village traffic?
Could a lesser speed have avoided this damage?

I'm not sure. This was a state highway - I believe I was doing about 70. My wife thinks we were close to 90. Regardless, it was obviously too fast to avoid someone who comes on the road without looking

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

I'm not sure. This was a state highway - I believe I was doing about 70. My wife thinks we were close to 90. Regardless, it was obviously too fast to avoid someone who comes on the road without looking

It is easily possible you were doing 90, the car manages to mask speeds very efficiently, That said - its great you both could walk away after a crash of that magnitude, i wish you and your family well.

We hear such negative press about owning a skoda, i am not denying there aren't issues, its situations like these that you feel the car was built to protect, and it did its job well, in my view your investment paid off.

Best wishes - ML