[Tron]

Originally Posted by jkdas

I thought Innova was damn safe till two seperate accidents in the last 3 days caused death to passenger travelling in it.

One accident was with a bus; 4 people of a family died . Another was with an Ambassador( slight dent or so thats all), which led to death of 3 people of a family with 4th one in serious condition.

In teh second case; teh front windshield was unbreakable by local people and hence led to death of 3 people inside the car. The 4th person, a gal was rescued by breaking open the rear windshield after the attempt with front windshield failed. The rumour is that gas leaked frm A\c unit and hence it caught fire. Also, the central locking was jammed and hence door couldnt be opened during rescue.

The AC gas is non-combustible.

Originally Posted by jkdas

People think Innova or Scorpio are very safe coz they are big cars. They are safer if one wears seat belts.

I am damn sure that you are right. Shame on people who are ignorant about the use of seat belts.

Such big cars and SUVs are more prone to rollovers due to the high centre of gravity, and the body-bolted-on-chassis design (as opposed to the unibody construction of sedans).

They are less safe than sedans. Most single-car accidents involve SUVs rather than sedans.

Were the occupants wearing seat belts? Without wearing seatbelts, the occupants are prone to die even in moderate speed collisions. Wearing the seatbelt is the #1 thing that can save one's life in an automobile accident.

Originally Posted by ghostrider4385

Scorpio and safe? My A**!!! I had a friend die in that car. Funnily, the other 3 chaps in the car got away without a scratch! The car is extremely unstable... especially, with its power steering, when you flick the steering wheel to the side sharply (like for example, to avoid something on the road)...the dang thing turns turtle. Very low center of gravity!

Godspeed.

Alok.

You mean very high centre of gravity?

Yep, that rollover tested using the Elk Test or Moose Test in Scandinavia. It's a common test done to ensure the safety of a vehicle.

It involves changing lane twice suddenly - imagine a moose (a big animal) coming into your lane at night - which is common in Norway and Sweden. You swerve into the lane of oncoming traffic, and immediately swerve back into your own lane to avoid the oncoming traffic. The Elk/Moose test involves two such swift lane changes at around 60km/h. The car shouldn't rollover during this test.

If a car fails the Elk/Moose test, it would be very hard to sell it in Europe. It's a shame that such tests aren't done in India.

[Tron]

Originally Posted by venkatrx

In this accident as reported looks like probably the victims survived the crash but died due to the fire.

1. couldn't break the front windshield !!! are they so strong?
2. central lock didn't open? could happen in any car i suppose....
3. AC gas catching fire OR was it the fuel that caught fire due to the accident?

2. Even if the central locking opens, the door can get jammed in serious collisions. In some countries, they use a metal cutting equipment (a set of large hydraulic pliers) called "Jaws of life" to cut the metal to free the occupants. Every emergency road crew must have this.

3. It's probably the fuel that caught fire. As I posted above, the AC gas (both HFC and CFC) is incombustible. From Wikipedia (not the best reference, of course), "As flame retardants, fire extinguishants, refrigerants, propellants and solvents they have or had wide use".

Originally Posted by Ajay

Isnt the Forester' more of a softroader ?

It can go offroad, but it's a wagon, not a SUV.

Mods note: You get 20 minutes time to edit after you post. Please add your comments in the same post if it is within 20 minutes.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by TeddyBear

The Toyota Innova of former Punjab Minister Inderjit Singh Zira after it met with an accident at the Sector 38 and 40 crossing on Tuesday. Former Punjab Minister and Akali leader Inderjit Singh Zira had a providential escape this morning when his Toyota Innova turned turtle after colliding with a Maruti Alto car near the Sectors 38-40 crossing in Chandigarh.
The police said the occupants of both vehicles escaped with minor injuries. Spot inspection said the vehicles were at high speed. The front portion of the Alto car (CH-03-Q-2778) driven by Narinder Singh of Sector 38 was damaged. The Innova (PB-10-BM-8494) skid off the road and overturned. Zira’s driver Gurdev Singh was at the wheel. SHO of the Sector 39 police station inspector Nanha Ram Kadiyan said no case was registered as both parties resolved the issue amicably.
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories
(1 Year old news. FYI only)

i dunno whether its only me but that dosent look like an innova to me. looks more like a safari.

[raj_5004]

yes akshay, you are right. its a safari, i think and definetely not an innova.

[diabloo]

Innova v Alto & Innova overturned

Originally Posted by akshay1234

i dunno whether its only me but that dosent look like an innova to me. looks more like a safari.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

yes akshay, you are right. its a safari, i think and definetely not an innova.

Inverted Image:

[raj_5004]

thanks for the inverted image buddy. look at the fenders or doors. also the side cladding, an innova doesnt have them. and the most obvious thing are the tyres.

[ravibhat]

Innova is safe If driven within its limits. My driver has tried all sorts of speeds in my Innova and we felt safe speed is 60-80kmph. Its rock stable in that range. Even upto 130kmph we don't feel unsafe but in emergency its difficult to bring it into the control. Compared to SUVs Innova is safe much better than Safari/Scorpio which tend to over turn. I have hardly seen Innova overturned.

Innova should be more used to move people and tons of luggage with luxury comfort for 6 people on board. Thats why I have baught Innova and I am so happy with decision.

Regards,

Ravi.

[aaggoswami]

I would like to give one incidence where the Overdrive magazine staff was involved in Accident.

IIRC, the Overdrive staff was driving in Innova on NE-1 ( National Expresshighway 1, between A'bad-Vadodara ) and near A'bad, without any warning the road was turning/ending. They ended up in a small traffic island or something. They came out with minor injuries.

The wheels were damaged. The driver got some back problem ( I dont remember what was the problem, but it wasnt major ) but this was because the drive had kept his foot on brake pedal and the foot was there when the structure was absorbing the energy of the impact.
I dont know in which issue it was, but there was a photograph in the issue. That site was accident prone and had seen accidents earlier also.

[chitbhanu]

Well Said Ravi, i couldnt have agreed more. I have travelled lots in an Innova and have found it quite comfortable at high speeds as well as over long long distances. As i had mentioned in my earlier post, 'Innova is built for a purpose and that needs to be kept in mind'.

Yes it is susceptible to turning turtle, but then its impracticle to expect the stability and aerodynamics of an Octavia / Laura from it . It requires matured driving and thats important.

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Innova is safe If driven within its limits. My driver has tried all sorts of speeds in my Innova and we felt safe speed is 60-80kmph. Its rock stable in that range. Even upto 130kmph we don't feel unsafe but in emergency its difficult to bring it into the control. Compared to SUVs Innova is safe much better than Safari/Scorpio which tend to over turn. I have hardly seen Innova overturned.

Innova should be more used to move people and tons of luggage with luxury comfort for 6 people on board. Thats why I have baught Innova and I am so happy with decision.

Regards,

Ravi.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I would like to give one incidence where the Overdrive magazine staff was involved in Accident.

IIRC, the Overdrive staff was driving in Innova on NE-1 ( National Expresshighway 1, between A'bad-Vadodara ) and near A'bad, without any warning the road was turning/ending. They ended up in a small traffic island or something. They came out with minor injuries.

The wheels were damaged. The driver got some back problem ( I dont remember what was the problem, but it wasnt major ) but this was because the drive had kept his foot on brake pedal and the foot was there when the structure was absorbing the energy of the impact.
I dont know in which issue it was, but there was a photograph in the issue. That site was accident prone and had seen accidents earlier also.

there was an unmarked circle. the crashed into the circle.

[chaxy]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

yes akshay, you are right. its a safari, i think and definetely not an innova.

that is a Safari for sure. the badging on the side looks like a 2.2

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

i dunno whether its only me but that dosent look like an innova to me. looks more like a safari.

You are correct, its a safari.
1) Look at the rear door.
2) Front wheel arch. There is padding on it.
3) Wheels.

[SumitB]

Originally Posted by chaxy

that is a Safari for sure. the badging on the side looks like a 2.2

Its a Safari allright, but not a 2.2. Its the old 3 litre DICOR for 2 reasons. Firstly, this accident took place on 18th April, 2007. The 2.2 was released in October 2007. Secondly, if you look closely, the DICOR logo is too short to say Dicor 2.2 VTT! I am not saying that the new 2.2 is safer (before the usual suspects start bashing me )

I wonder what was the condition of the Alto after this impact! Anyone got any pics of the poor Alto!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Tron

Such big cars and SUVs are more prone to rollovers due to the high centre of gravity, and the body-bolted-on-chassis design (as opposed to the unibody construction of sedans).

They are less safe than sedans. Most single-car accidents involve SUVs rather than sedans.

SUVs & MUVs are more prone to rollovers, yes. But in a head to head crash, the SUV will almost always be safer than the sedan it crashed into. Also, two-car accidents are far more common than rollovers.

[rks]

Originally Posted by GTO

SUVs & MUVs are more prone to rollovers, yes. But in a head to head crash, the SUV will almost always be safer than the sedan it crashed into. Also, two-car accidents are far more common than rollovers.

To complete this argument, one needs to consider which of the following is more likely to get into a two-vehicle accident on Indian roads:

1. SUV
2. Sedan
3. Small car

The answer is given above. Small car is least likely and SUV is most likely. Our roads are traffic-filled and with no lane discipline. Most of them are narrow with vehicles weaving around to avoid potholes and a host of other obstacles. If one drives slowly, one will be continuously overtaken and chances of rear-ending will be higher. Under these circumstances, it is debatable as to whether powerful and large vehicles like SUVs and sedans are really safer as claimed. Take into account that most of our drivers get licences without any rigrorous testing and can hardly qualify as skilled drviers.