[libranof1987]

Welcome to the forum, Rohan.

Quite an interesting profession - we're glad you're here and look forward to your posts. Quickest question: do any/all manufacturers actually incorporate feedback or findings from your research.

Hearing from someone who actually has data points (=facts) will help establish ground reality and hopefully, clear common myths (heavy = strong build and so on) so casually thrown around.

[cpabhijit]

Welcome to the forum, Rohan! Like others, I too am intrigued to know that such a profile exists in our country. Would love to hear from you on how you go about your analysis and if the reports have advise for the Govts as well.

Originally Posted by svsantosh

You are like the new girl whose dad got a job transfer in the month of Aug and you move to a new city and join a new school and walk into your new 10th std classroom and see a bunch of boys going all rowdy and throwing dusters and chalk piece at each other...

...and then they take a pause and look at you. Steady their tucked out shirts and do their hair and blushes all around. You know the rest.

what a wonderful simile!

[clementw]

Hi! Welcome! looking forward to your experiences and insights. Safety is such a critical part of motoring which often does not get its due.

[De-Veer]

That's a very interesting field of work, I didn't even know that existed in India. Will follow this thread and your posts for the interesting and educated points you will bring to the table.

Also, being a bad driver is not something that stays, with time and practice everyone gets better. It's just the first hiccup. At first everyone is afraid while driving, then they get used to it. I'm still very interested to learn about why you actually decided to not drive.

Still, your expertise is going to help the people of the forum a lot I think.

[som9729]

Originally Posted by rahi

OT: I had my heart in my mouth when I read "FORENSIC" because I thought you are cyber forensics/computer forensics investigator.

This is the field I am aspiring to work in after putting in 23 years govt. service and yet to meet someone for guidance who's doing it.

By the way, which organization do you work for, if you don't mind telling and how to get into your field of specialization.

Get in touch with GCIDT in Bengaluru.
http://gcidt.com/

They're into forensics for Police (Yes, Indian police), and also take up private cases. Their reports can be legally submitted in court as evidence.

I'm not affiliated with them, but have used their services in the past. (Few years back on behalf of a company I used to work for)
And no, I don't have any personal references there.

Just generally give them a call or msg them on FB and keep ur fingers crossed!

[Rohan265]

Originally Posted by commonman

Rohan , Welcome to the forum.
Happy to see such a professional here. You can get lots of feedback from this group regarding the roads and car security . Hope you will take it constructively.

Thank you for the warm welcome.
I look forward to the feedback and learnings I get from this forum as the road safety related inputs I have had till now have been a bit biased as the discussions were held with people from a similar profession. It would be really helpful to get a broader view from the members here.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Welcome to the forum, Rohan.

Quite an interesting profession - we're glad you're here and look forward to your posts. Quickest question: do any/all manufacturers actually incorporate feedback or findings from your research.

Hearing from someone who actually has data points (=facts) will help establish ground reality and hopefully, clear common myths (heavy = strong build and so on) so casually thrown around.

Thank you for the warm welcome. Yes, the manufacturers do incorporate the findings from our research. However, before making any changes the manufacturers require a huge and detailed data sample, something that our country lacks. That is why it may even take years for the consumers to see the changes.

Unfortunately, I cannot share the exact data points here as the data is proprietary. But, I will do my best to clear any doubts through all that I have learned through experience.

[SS-Traveller]

Welcome to the forum, Rohan. Enjoy your stay here, and do use this place to collect even more data!

I'm curious to know - you don't like driving, you don't own a car, yet you are an automobile engineer with specialization in forensic crash investigation. Isn't that a bit like a surgeon who faints at the sight of blood? Or a pathologist who throws up last week's lunch and dinner at the sight of faeces? Can you tell us a bit more about your transition to forensic crash investigation?

[Rohan265]

Originally Posted by De-Veer

That's a very interesting field of work, I didn't even know that existed in India. Will follow this thread and your posts for the interesting and educated points you will bring to the table.

Also, being a bad driver is not something that stays, with time and practice everyone gets better. It's just the first hiccup. At first everyone is afraid while driving, then they get used to it. I'm still very interested to learn about why you actually decided to not drive.

Still, your expertise is going to help the people of the forum a lot I think.

I don't know if this is because of my profession, but every time I drive my brain is constantly in a state of emergency as I keep registering all the things that can go wrong and potentially lead to a crash. This makes driving highly stressful for me. Hopefully, I will get over it someday.

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Dear Rohan,

You are like the new girl whose dad got a job transfer in the month of Aug and you move to a new city and join a new school and walk into your new 10th std classroom and see a bunch of boys going all rowdy and throwing dusters and chalk piece at each other...

...and then they take a pause and look at you. Steady their tucked out shirts and do their hair and blushes all around. You know the rest.

Welcome aboard and bring some fresh perspective to this accident investigation classroom

Thank you for the warm welcome and the interesting analogy.

Can you point me towards the thread or post where the quoted discussions are held? I would like to learn more.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Welcome to the forum, Rohan. Enjoy your stay here, and do use this place to collect even more data!

I'm curious to know - you don't like driving, you don't own a car, yet you are an automobile engineer with specialization in forensic crash investigation. Isn't that a bit like a surgeon who faints at the sight of blood? Or a pathologist who throws up last week's lunch and dinner at the sight of faeces? Can you tell us a bit more about your transition to forensic crash investigation?

Thank you for the warm welcome.

Yes, my profession and my dislike for driving do seem oxymoronic. However, my minimal driving experience has never affected my ability to study a crash as I try to learn vicariously.

Crash Investigations was my first job since graduation. I just landed directly into the field and there was no transition involved as such.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by Rohan265

I work as a Forensic Crash Investigator. My job is to investigate road crashes and analyse the factors that led to the crashes. Based on the factors, I provide solutions to the respective decision-makers. I have been doing this for over 7 years now. During this period I have investigated over 500 crashes and have also authored some research papers. Alas, while studying crashes I have also come face-to-face with the grim reality of road safety in India. That is why I have decided to make it a personal goal to share all that I have learned with all those who can benefit.

First of all, welcome to this wonderful forum. I am sure, your introduction post will attract 100's of likes.

Honestly speaking, I never knew that such a career existed. I always thought, it was an Insurance surveyor who finalized everything.

Over the years, I was amused to read about one peculiar case, which did not have any proper final outcome.
Link: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...r-injured.html (XUV500: Severe crash, but not a single airbag deployed (driver injured))

We are glad to have you here. Your analysis may help many in the future.

[Raghunath Singh]

Originally Posted by Rohan265

Hello everyone.
I would like to begin with a confession: I have never owned a vehicle in my life and neither do I intend to own one in the near future.
The thing is…I do not like to drive. It could be because I am really not good at it. This makes me a huge liability on the road. I do have a valid permanent license for both a car and a two-wheeler (obtained by passing a driving test too!). Personally, I am not sure if the reason I don’t like to drive is because I am bad at it or is it the other way around.

P.S: I also hope that I have not broken any Team-BHP code by mentioning my dislike for driving and owning a vehicle

Welcome to the group Rohan. I'm sure many will benefit from your unbiased opinions and experience. Eager to hear your views, maybe the first one would be on the recent Kia Seltos crash where the car body split in two, I know a lot of people are in dilemma over this one incident, including myself.

Welcome again!

[mandarpotdar]

Originally Posted by Rohan265

... but every time I drive my brain is constantly in a state of emergency as I keep registering all the things that can go wrong and potentially lead to a crash.

My brain does the same thing, maybe to lesser extent than yours because you have actually studied various crashes. I think the key to driving is searching for the safest path (and speed) from all that is going around. Few times when I am not in driver's seat, the same process still goes through my mind but I wouldn't have any control on the vehicle.. hence I prefer to drive myself.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by cpabhijit

*SNIP*

what a wonderful simile!

Apologies for going off-topic; I am thrilled to see someone here who knows what a simile is

And Rohan, welcome to the forum. I am sure someone will correct me if I am mistaken, but I believe you're the first person here with the actual credibility to analyse crashes.

Many of us here see crashes and immediately become armchair detectives; but your opinion would attract fewer dissenting arguments I believe.

Note to mods: I still see Rohan's post count showing up as zero. Schroedinger's Rohan?

Cheers

[Rohan265]

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

Welcome to the group Rohan. I'm sure many will benefit from your unbiased opinions and experience. Eager to hear your views, maybe the first one would be on the recent Kia Seltos crash where the car body split in two, I know a lot of people are in dilemma over this one incident, including myself.

Welcome again!

Thank you for the warm welcome.

The Kia Seltos crash near Nagpur did baffle me when I saw the pics initially. The thing that stuck out to me was how "neat" the car looked. What I mean by "neat" is that a crash involving a vehicle splitting into two requires massive forces. Such type of a crash is rare. I have only seen this happen once. In that particular crash, the car hit a tree with its side plane and split into two. The car was completely demolished with the engine flying out of the frame, the seats thrown off their anchors, and debris of the car lying around everywhere. In comparison, the Seltos did have the rear separated but the front end seemed relatively intact. Usually, impact forces this strong radiate throughout the vehicle causing buckling at multiple locations. In addition, I have come across many crashes in which the rear end of a vehicle impacted a similar bridge wall. In none of them have I seen the rear end just come off.

From the minimal pictures available online, I can think of 2 possibilities how the split could have happened.

1. The car was cut into two using some extricating tool. This seems less likely as whoever went for cutting the car had no reason to do so. The right rear side door may be jammed, but there was no structural damage. They could have just pried it open. The way how the vehicle split made it seem as if someone just pulled at the rear end instead of cutting it.
2. The car indeed split into two due to the impact. I am more inclined to believe this is how it happened. But the splitting was not immediate. If the impact forces were strong enough, the rear of the car would have come off immediately after colliding with the bridge wall itself. However, as per the photos, the rear seems to have travelled with the front after the impact (there is also some evidence on the road to support this). My guess is that the rear end of the vehicle weakened after the impact and the post-impact rotation of the vehicle just dislodged the rear before the vehicle rested. The splitting could also be due to vehicle design. Sportscars are usually designed in such a way that the rear end and engine separate from the vehicle in collisions. This is done so that the occupant's cabin won't be dragged along with the vehicle. In the case of the Seltos, the rear could have been designed in such a way that it separates if there is damage to the fuel tank (to prevent the risk of injuries due to fire). However, this is something only the manufacturer can confirm. As I said earlier, I have never seen this before in other vehicles. (I personally have not investigated a crash involving a Kia yet).

I hope my observation would have helped. However, I am basing my opinion based only on experience and minimal data (online pictures). Only a thorough investigation will answer the questions regarding impact speeds and the splitting of the vehicle.

[FeelTheBass]

Hi! Rohan welcome to the forum.
Indeed you have an interesting profession, Would love to hear from your via valuable posts to enhance knowledge about your work.
Hope you enjoy your stay.

[Raghunath Singh]

Originally Posted by Rohan265

Thank you for the warm welcome.

The Kia Seltos crash near Nagpur did baffle me when I saw the pics initially. The thing that stuck out to me was how "neat" the car looked. What I mean by "neat" is that a crash involving a vehicle splitting into two requires massive forces. Such type of a crash is rare. I have only seen this happen once. In that particular crash, the car hit a tree with its side plane and split into two.

However, I am basing my opinion based only on experience and minimal data (online pictures). Only a thorough investigation will answer the questions regarding impact speeds and the splitting of the vehicle.

Thanks a lot Rohan for the response and apologies for the late acknowledgement.