[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by karthikrao23

Yes, airbags didn’t deploy because seatbelt not being fastened.

Curtain airbags are not dependent on seatbelts. Also the curtain airbag deployed on one side but not other side. But both rear passengers weren't wearing seatbelts.

The curtain airbags like I mentioned are for side impact / T bone and rollover.

There are no rear airbags that open up from the front. Rear airbags are only side airbags for side impact protection. The side of the car is intact fully even the side windows aren't broken.

That Benz front has absorbed an insane amount of forces and load.

[aniketi]

Very sad news. Om Shanti.

Something is seriously wrong. By looking at the pics, no way persons in the back seat should be dead on the sport, that too in car like Mercedes. Rear portion of the car looks quite intact and car like Merc should definitely save lives of the persons in this case. This should be investigated for sure. Any idea what speed car was doing? By looking at the damage, I guess it should be around 100. How come passengers in rear seat died on spot is mystery to be solved.

Driving slowly & carefully is the key. Our highways are becoming better and better every year but they are getting scarier too due to high speeds people are doing on these new roads. Many people think that good, expensive cars should be driven fast only, sad but true. I have seen people doing showoff to friends, family that how their cars can do high speeds, really stupid.

[aadya]

Originally Posted by steadfast

Quick question:

Curtain airbags did not deploy due to occupants not wearing rear seat belts. But I have seen so many crash videos on YouTube where all airbags get deployed even in mass market cars. Assuming rear passengers of these mass market cars were wearing seat belts is too much optimism.

So my question is what is the expected deployment scenario of curtain airbags ? With /without seat belts ? Not in frontal crash ?

Airbags are supplementary restrain systems. Only to work in tandem and supplementary to the seat belts(Primary restraint system). The reason for seat belt being mandatory for them to be activated is to avoid injuries due the airbags themselves and second to avoid the need for deployment when no passenger needs to be protected.

[manpreetsj]

I am not sure if this has been shared, but this shows simulation of impact on passenger sitting in backseat without seatbelt fastened.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1566643311011831809

[karthikrao23]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

That Benz front has absorbed an insane amount of forces and load.

Thanks. Was not aware of this.

[Tanmay007]

Originally Posted by steadfast

Also curious if ADAS can prevent such accidents ?

More advanced ADAS systems have environment mapping, i.e. the system has already calculated and saved a drive-able area map for the next few meters and knows where the obstacles are, it will actively try to avoid them. In those prevention is possible but apart from Tesla/Google/Cruise I'm not sure any production cars make use of it as of now.

At the current level it won't prevent but automatic emergency braking could possibly reduce impact. Not sure if this particular Merc had ADAS, worst thing about buying expensive brands in India is they skimp on basic features for Indian variants. A recent example is even the top speccd BMW X7 does not get any lane-keep assist features and is limited to ADAS level 1.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by steadfast

Curtain airbags did not deploy due to occupants not wearing rear seat belts. But I have seen so many crash videos on YouTube where all airbags get deployed even in mass market cars. Assuming rear passengers of these mass market cars were wearing seat belts is too much optimism.

So my question is what is the expected deployment scenario of curtain airbags ? With /without seat belts ? Not in frontal crash ?

Most mass market cars have no sensor to detect if occupants are belted up or not. This is changing now (seatbelt reminders using a weight sensor are getting more common) but rarely for rear passengers. If there is no sensor or if the sensor isn't linked to the airbag deployment, cars will deploy their airbags and assume the occupants are belted up. The only exception is if you use the passenger airbag off switch.

I don't know how things are in the GLC but it would not surprise me if even it has no link between the seatbelt reminder and airbag deployment.

[dust-n-bones]

Poorly marked lanes, lanes and/or shoulder dis-appearing into an unmarked barrier, or appearing with no warning, or sometimes no paint on the road at all - all are a sad reality of highways in India.

Who ever certifies these highways (is that even done?) will never take the blame and learn to do better.

Though in this particular case, the left lane need not have disappeared - it should have continued to the bridge on the left - with road signs warning the driver of the lane split and merge across the bridge and a solid white lane to guide the driver.

NHAI does not need to force the driver into a guessing game on a high speed highway, least of all here.

[sameer sultan]

Originally Posted by HTC

Such a high profile person who is worth billions should have atleast a pilot and a sweep car for safety.

Please elaborate for my knowledge how a pilot and a sweep car could have provided safety in this accident scenario?

[myavu]

So as per CCTV reference they had traveled 20 KMs in 9 minutes. That means 133 kmph

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...336969944.html

[vkivaturi]

Very shocking and unfortunate incident. Based on the road pictures shared earlier in this thread and other details shared in media, it looks like the driver side of reasons could be:

- Not slowing down on rumble strips (which are there to warn drivers to be cautious)
- Over speeding
- Overtaking from left side, at high speed
- Rear seat passengers not wearing seat belts

But then, these are the same mistakes that almost every other driver makes on Indian highways. I was on a HYD-BLR road trip few months back and the same pattern was observed throughout the stretch - does not matter if the vehicle is an Alto or a BMW.

[RaviDBLR]

Originally Posted by vharihar

The punishment for rash driving shouldnt be death, it can be injury or better still legal penalty, but it shouldnt be death in an accident.

True. It should not be. Unfortunately, on our roads, it is.

Everything discussed here are absolutely needed. Better designed roads, signage & maintenance, public awareness, safer cars, better drivers... Public activism (notice how press hasn't brought up road design yet?) might make it better - takes years, if not decades though.

Till such time, default penalty on our roads will continue to be injury or death!. Only practical thing we can do right away - try our best to drive safe!

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by throttleflick

.. How can one ascertain non usage of seat belts in that case?

Tragic accident.

Originally Posted by airbus

.. inner side of front seats are bent, might be due to impact of rear passenger(s) colliding with front seats.
Attachment 2354791

Originally Posted by condor

.. The survivors were in in the front seats. So this does add up to the two not wearing their seat belts.

From the cabin pic, both the rear occupants have impacted against the front seats and pushed the front occupants all the way onto the steering column and dashboard.
It is clear that the rear occupants were not wearing seatbelts.

This shows the importance of the rear occupants to be belted. The common justification is "we are sitting in the rear and won't wear belts" This can have serious consequences and can harm the front occupants when the unbelted rear occupants collide with the front seats and front passengers.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by myavu

So as per CCTV reference they had traveled 20 KMs in 9 minutes. That means 133 kmph

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...336969944.html

I agree these guys were over speeding and must be doing 150 plus maybe too, but this highway gives you that false sense of speed not being speed, its just so empty with long curves which are perfectly banked, roads which have the 3-4 lanes of width. There are a couple of speed camera's on this stretch too where you get fined for doing anything more than 100.

I visit this highway very often to get Ayurvedic meds for my mom from Palghar and hence its almost a monthly 1-2 times affair. The timing on which the accident happened in the afternoon, its almost like you are alone on the highway with a car or two at a distance and trucks pottering around.

In my humble Swift, I sometimes do not realize I am doing silly speeds until I look down and immediately release the A pedal

Feel really sad for Cyrus. Wrong place, wrong time.

I will make sure rear seat belts are worn in my car from hence forth, I am sure the rear seat passengers would be alive if they had.

[shramik]

Gentlemen,
With due respect to the many varying views expressed, in my opinion, the first rule is to prevent accidents from happening.
Seat belts, air bags & what have you come into the picture after the mishap.
I have been driving on Indian roads (& that of many countries) for almost 50 years, almost all of it on highways, in cars of yore, in which we would have celebrated attaining a 3 figure speed, to today's cars which are capable of speeds well nearing 200 kmph with complete ease.
To prevent mishaps, you need to begin at enforcing road discipline.

Some pointers....
Why should we be forced to overtake on the left of a divided road ??
Why should a vehicle come opposite you, when you are in your correct, left lane ???
Why should a slow moving, loaded truck attempt overtaking another equally slow moving truck on a 2 lane divided road, causing a queue of faster vehicles behind ????
Why should any animal wander into the path of a speeding car ??
Why should there be a break, intended or man-made, on divided 4/6 lane roads ??
Why do German roads have the lowest per capita accident ratio despite many hundreds of kms of speed-limit free autobahns ???

These issues are fundamental to road safety !!!!
Some of the acts I have seen on our roads would be recognised as grave criminal offences in civilised countries, and yet, we all remain completely oblivious !!
Our Government has given us a massive bounty in the form of world class roads, they should begin to tighten down heavily on road discipline.