[Enigmatic]

This was in today's TOI.

According to the news, Ashish Garg a software engineer and two of his friends were on their way from the Jama Masjid area when a dog suddenly came in their way.

In order to save the dog , Ashish Garg swerved the car right and he lost control . The accord went on to hit a tree , overturned and caught fire !

Fortunately no one was injured as the cops present at the spot bravely broke the windows of the burning car and pulled all the 3 occupants out in time .

Kudos to the cops , however i never knew that an Accord could catch fire so easily !



P.S. Mods please move the thread to the relevant section if required.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

Fortunately no one was injured as the cops present at the spot bravely broke the windows of the burning car and pulled all the 3 occupants out in time .

Kudos to the cops , however i never knew that an Accord could catch fire so easily !

Hats Off to the Cops really. But we really can't write off a car, that too a car which has such a reliable reputation. Since it involves a crash, and especially since we are not aware of the speed the Accord was being driven at, the surrounding conditions et all, we really cant comment on it.

[srishiva]

Good to hear nothing happened to the occupants. Hope the authorities will investigate what really happened along with the Honda.

[a*ed]

That's pretty scary!
Kudos to the cops for their presence of mind in saving the lives of three individuals.

[Enigmatic]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Hats Off to the Cops really. But we really can't write off a car, that too a car which has such a reliable reputation. Since it involves a crash, and especially since we are not aware of the speed the Accord was being driven at, the surrounding conditions et all, we really cant comment on it.

That is exactly what my reaction was when i read it this morning , however if you look at the pic more closely (although nothing much can be said from the pic alone ) , you will notice that there is not much frontal damage to the car , hence im presuming that the speed wasn't such that it would set a legendary car like an accord in flames .

[ACM]

Firstly Hats off to the Cops - This fast action by cops normally perceived to be slow and ineffective to act really feels good.

Secondly It is said that one must never try to avoid hitting a dog or a cat, - brake if possible but not turn significantly. Yes know this sounds and feels bad but one of the first advice that my dad had given to me when I started driving years back was that attempting to save a dog or cat can cause us our lives. Yes do it if it is a person but in case of dogs and cats, even if they go below a car (not the tyre) they normally come out of the rear quite ok. Has happend to me once and the dog was fine, besides cats manage to get out of the way by themselves better than all the evasive action that we may take.

Lastly High end cars and now even the mid end ones are said to have a safety feature that switches of the engine and fuel supply incase of an accident like this one. That does not seem to have worked here or did the Accord not have that feature.

[esteem_lover]

Great escape and 3 cheers to the cops on patrol. They SHOULD be rewarded well.

Originally Posted by ACM

Lastly High end cars and now even the mid end ones are said to have a safety feature that switches of the engine and fuel supply incase of an accident like this one. That does not seem to have worked here or did the Accord not have that feature.

That will not help if the fuel line is broken.

[avira_tk]

The driver should be taught that while driving, his animal welfare concern should not cost someone else their life. Its a stupid thing to crash you car while trying to avoid hitting a dog, what if he crashed and his friends were seriously injured? I know accidents are unavoidable, but this is not to save a human life, slamming the brakes is a better option than swerving and skidding off the road.

[suhaas307]

Good to know that the passengers are safe, and it's heartening to see cops genuinely taking interest in the lives of civilians, while putting theirs on the line.

The Accord will be made the scape-goat in this situation, I reckon. But people might fail to understand that at the end of the day, it's a car. And all cars are susceptible to big damage. Safety crash-tests can prove a lot, but it isn't completely fool-proof I'd say. Think about it. Cars might be strong and designed to absorb impact and save the passengers in the event of an accident. Modern technology and engineering have enabled us to achieve higher standards of safety. But no car is 100% safe.

There is only so much that the on-board computers and safety features can do to save your life.

Every car has delicate parts that, if tickled, might prove dangerous. Fuel lines, spark plugs, electronic-equipment and a 50 liter fuel tank, can spell doom if things don't go right, and luck isn't by your side.

One can never predict an accident. In a real life scenario, when a car hits a tree at decent speeds, one doesn't know if other components at the other side of the car have been affected in some way. Perhaps a stone or a sharp twig. The margin for error is very slim. If the car gets hit in the wrong places, it can only mean disaster.

That said, I saw this BMW spontaneously catch fire while it was on the move on MG Road, in Bangalore, a few weeks ago. Scary.

[aniketi]

Lucky escape. I am sure they must be going at speed of above 100. Else it is not possible that car will overturn. Also car like accord should be able to stop at speed of 100 - 120 easily. They must be going at super speed i guess. But car catching fire is surprising. Car must have collided with tree with too much force.

Great work done by Policemen though. Hats off too them

[honeybee]

What was the cause of the fire?

Collision with the tree?
Overheating of the engine?
Something else?

I doubt if it's the first two, and would like to know what else could have triggered it. There are numerous collisions of vehicles against trees, even poles, but by itself a collision may not start a fire.

Also the engine should ordinarily never come in contact with inflammable material like dry grass to start/cause a fire. I have heard of hot exhaust pipes igniting dry grass underneath a parked vehicle, but not a hot engine.

The first and foremost in the driver's mind should be the safety of himself and occupants of the car. Everything else should come in second.

[Enigmatic]

To all those who are saying that if an animal comes in the way then one should always try to avoid taking evasive action , however at that very moment its just a flicker of a finger that can change scenes dramatically ! Moreover its human nature to avoid a colision as much as possible , be it an animal or a human , one always tries to avoid it as much as he can .

Also in the above mentioned accident , it should be noted that the guy turned right to avoid the dog , but unexpectedly the car went out of his control and hence hit the tree .

Hope i made some sense ...

[Jayant..B]

Does Accord have Fuel cut off switch?

[mayankjha1806]

Good job by Cops, it takes courage to go near a burning car as there is a risk it can explode any time when the fire reaches the fuel tank.

Not really sure if the car had fuel cutoff feature, or if it was maintained properly. Its un-usual to see cars catching fire these days although there are quiet a few that actually do.

@ACM, similar advise was given by my dad, there was one more if i remember it correctly "In case of Dog maybe you could try turning to save but in case of pig dont point the car towards its back as they have a habit of turning back and running in the direction they came from

[Zed]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Good to know that the passengers are safe, and it's heartening to see cops genuinely taking interest in the lives of civilians, while putting theirs on the line.
Modern technology and engineering have enabled us to achieve higher standards of safety. But no car is 100% safe.

There is only so much that the on-board computers and safety features can do to save your life.

Couldn't agree more. Discussions in the recent past regarding car crashes direct a lot of anger towards OEs on account of the fact that their cars failed to protect occupants \ overturned \ broke into bits and so on.

There may be some merit in the criticism but the illusion that a high priced well engineered automobile must, under all conditions, protect occupants while inflicting minimal damage upon itself needs to be shattered in forums such as ours.

Even a volvo - a brand widely perceived as a benchmark when it comes to occupant safety for cars - in the hands of a bad driver or involved in an accident that brings together a unique set of circumstances does not guarantee safety beyond a certain degree.

With so much focus on automotive technology its easy to forget that the most important ingredient(s) of road safety is not the car itself but..

(1) Proper driver training & licensing systems
(2) Road design, construction and maintenance
(3) Traffic management. Keeping dogs & other strays from crossing the road at random is part of traffic management.

Road safety, IMHO, is fundamentally about systems and procedures in place to prevent accidents.

As consumers its imperative that we highlight these aspects in forums such as ours and our social and professional circles. Sure, everybody knows what Ive stated in this post.But with a widening network of roads and faster cars and bikes being unleashed on our roads at an alarming pace we cannot afford to be complacent anymore.