[airbus]

Originally Posted by swift_guy

That is sad. May their souls rest in peace.

Did the victims die of (car) drowning or because of the impact of falling down?

Victims died because of injuries sustained in the accident. Husband (driver) was pronounced dead on arrival in hospital. Wife was on ventilator for couple of days. Their daughter sustained spinal injuries and her legs are paralysed, currently undergoing treatment. I have never heard something remotely close to this tragedy in my know circle of friends/relatives.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by mayankk

10k is no skin off my back, but I hope that its not taken as means of making money every other day by such idiots.

But this is what precisely happens. Most of us ar scared or do not have the time and energy to get involved in legal proceedings. On the other hand these guys are mostly jobless morons. On top of that there is always the thread of physical harm specially in NCR region. And by your description of the guy and the area, I can think of what community this person would be belonging to mostly.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by swift_guy

What got them involved in this crash is that the car ahead of them would have stopped (came to a halt). And they crashed. Maybe they were maintaining a safe distance but had not expected to stop for a 0 km/h vehicle. Even if they stopped inches away, some other car would have hit them from behind and sandwiched them in between. In India, you can't expect people to be careful in city roads, let alone expressways. In my humble opinion, this pile-up would have been started by one driver and vehicles kept coming and hitting one by one (to form a pile up of 20). It is true that fog doesn't cause an accident. It is a condition, what one can do is be careful. Fog can catch you like it did to these 20-odd cars and it might not catch you, like the 20 others who would have reached safe despite doing 120 km/h.

It was not a crash but a pile-up, similar to what happens on flyovers. One can't control what happens when he comes in the trap. I agree one or two would have started this mess, but blaming the entire public involved in it is not good.
:/

Originally Posted by msdivy

Fog is it? I can't see a thing. Let me drive fast and get over this thing ASAP - seem to be the thinking of those unfortunate folks in the video.

It is not justi n India. Even in the UK there are idiots. I remember I was driving London to Manchester a few hours ahead of a snow storm. I could barely drive and 50mph due to visibility. The speed limits had been reduced. Still, there were idiots speeding past at 70+ mph

[FORTified]

Originally Posted by ajmat

It is not just in India. Even in the UK there are idiots.

What made you to think otherwise? There are humans on all continents, just for your info

[RSimonS]

Originally Posted by ajmat

It is not justi n India. Even in the UK there are idiots. I remember I was driving London to Manchester a few hours ahead of a snow storm. I could barely drive and 50mph due to visibility. The speed limits had been reduced. Still, there were idiots speeding past at 70+ mph

I drive to Kerala and Back at least 3 or 4 times in an year. Salem - Bangalore stretch sees heavy rains and related visibility issues during monsoons. I have noticed Buses and Trucks, whose drivers have more driving experience compared us and are extremely familiar with the routes, slow down or stop because of the rain. But the modern day Schumis on read accelerate and do race on such conditions as well. Idiocity is a recipe for disaster.

[Joxster]

Guys,

One of my close friends had a disastrous accident on his way from Hyderabad to Pune while driving at night, and his car got completely totaled. He is completely safe by god's grace, and other then a couple of cuts on his fingers, didn't suffer any other injuries. He was alone in the car, and no one else was injured or harmed in any way.

He doesn't recall what happened, and no one so far has been able to tell him either. The last thing he remembers is driving up to a toll gate, where he slowed down, and the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance. I suspect he might have fallen asleep at the wheel and hit something, but hopefully someone might be able to give him more information on what he hit.

The car in question is a Renault Scala, and I have to say that his life was saved due to the excellent engineering of the car, along with the safety features provided. He might have been very seriously injured, or even have died if it wasn't for the cabin holding up that well, and the airbags inflating. He was also wearing his seatbelt, which definitely played a big role in keeping him safe too. Not sure what kind of speeds he was doing though.






Looking at the condition of the car, I shudder to think of what would have happened if he was in a car which had a weaker build, or without those essential safety features! Compromising on safety features just for more feel good features in car is just not worth it, and this is a perfect example of why. I hope this post opens more people's eyes, and pushes them towards paying a bit more for theirs and their families' safety. Mileage isn't everything!

Thankful to god that nothing serious happened to him or anyone else, and since the car is insured, he should get most of current worth of the car back.

Drive safe people

[Pferdestarke]

Originally Posted by Joxster

Looking at the condition of the car, I shudder to think of what would have happened if he was in a car which had a weaker build, or without those essential safety features!

That is one horrendous accident. Happy to hear that your friend is safe.

It is much evident from the pictures that crumple zones did their part well in eating up the force of impact.

Compromising on safety features just for more feel good features in car is just not worth it, and this is a perfect example of why.

+1 to that.

Build quality and safety must be the paramount factors while considering a car purchase rather than bells and whistles.

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by Pferdestarke

Build quality and safety must be the paramount factors while considering a car purchase rather than bells and whistles.

Thats definately going on a nation full of deaf years. Ears which can hear only selective terms like excellent average, cheap insurance, etc

[sephiroth]

Saw a 6 car pile-up in Bangalore when I was there in the night of 30th Jan around 9.30 pm. Couldn't take snaps as I didn't wanna stop and disrupt traffic. I'm not completely familiar with Bangalore roads, but this was on the straight stretch leading to the airport about 10kms from it. I was on the way to the airport and the accident was on the other side of the road (towards Bangalore) on the high lane. Almost all 6 vehicles seemed to have moderate to extensive damage at both ends. No vehicle had slipped to adjacent lanes. Hope no casualties. Anyone with details please substantiate.

[nischaltopno]

Happy to hear that your friend is safe. Good he was wearing the seat belt .

Originally Posted by Joxster

... but hopefully someone might be able to give him more information on what he hit.

I am sure somebody will be able to give him more information as the toll both isn't far away as seen in the first pic. Again from the first pic it looks like he has hit the median and jumped on to the other side of the road - the toll fee board is on the left, but your friend had already approached the toll booth.

[rav11stars]

Originally Posted by Joxster

One of my close friends had a disastrous accident on his way from Hyderabad to Pune while driving at night, and his car got completely totaled. He is completely safe by god's grace..
The last thing he remembers is driving up to a toll gate, where he slowed down, and the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance.

Glad to hear that he's safe and no one else is hurt. I second your observation on the importance of paying more for a safe car. Of what use is a high FE car if it can't save us in such situations.
I frequent the Pune-Hyd route, maybe thrice a year. Looking at your first pic and the boards in the background, this looks like the Pune-solapur expressway.
Wonder what caused such damage, if he slowed down at the toll gate? Did he drive onto the opposite lane in the toll plaza!

[Horizon81]

Originally Posted by Joxster

Guys,

He doesn't recall what happened, and no one so far has been able to tell him either. The last thing he remembers is driving up to a toll gate, where he slowed down, and the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance. I suspect he might have fallen asleep at the wheel and hit something, but hopefully someone might be able to give him more information on what he hit.

Let me share my experience of going through the same condition. This happened 12 years back during college days. I was riding my bike to drop my mom at the railway station. This was one of the small stations where not many trains stop, and the road also sees extremely sparse traffic. I wasn't wearing a helmet (I was stupid to do so). I dropped her off at the railway station, and took the turn off to the road back home. The next thing I remember is that I'm in a hospital room with my sister at my side. I have pain all over my body and I couldn't open my mouth.

What happened:
After I took that turn, I was coming down an incline, and at a turn on the bottom of the incline, another biker was doing a blind overtake on an autorickshaw. I braked hard, but that wasn't enough. We collided, and my chin hit the tank/handlebar. I lost consciousness and the locals took both me and the other biker to the nearest hospital. My sister was a doctor there and hence I was recognized by the nurses and they called up my sister.

All the above was explained to me by the people who brought me to the hospital. Till date, I only remember taking the turn from the railway station. Everything from there till about 6 hours later, was erased from my memory due to the hit on the chin. I was wake and conscious during 3 hours of that period, but I don't remember a thing. All I did during those 3 hours were repeating the same questions to my sister again, and again and again - "Why am I here?", "where's mom?".

Thank God that your friend survived the accident. He might have taken a hit on the head, seeing the condition of the car. Dozing off might be an equally possible cause, but speculating so would be unfair on him if he hadn't dozed off.

Tail piece: The other biker had only a cut on his upper lip, and was discharged the next day after observations. But his face got swollen up real bad from that injury. I was looking perfect on the outside, but had a toe fracture, fluid retention on the knee, a hairline fracture on the jaw and was acting like a mad man, repeating the same questions to my sister for 3 hours. It took me about 2-3 months to get healed.

[harry10]

Wow. One look at the Scala and no one can say the occupant survived. Only two scenarios make sense. Either he blacked out due to the shock or he dozed off, hence the gap in memory. I will go with the doze off scenario. Such extensive damage means he didn't braked or made a good effort to avoid the accident. Anyways, the cause doesn't matter. What matters is he survived and I agree with you. Always drive a safe car on highways rather than FE oriented. Gladly, mine is both

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Joxster

He doesn't recall what happened, and no one so far has been able to tell him either. The last thing he remembers is driving up to a toll gate, where he slowed down, and the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance. I suspect he might have fallen asleep at the wheel ...

Maybe he was knocked unconscious in the accident, like Horizon81's experience. Could he have fallen asleep without prior warning? Usually we know when we are getting sleepy at the wheel, eyelids dropping, and attention wandering. Of course, everyone is different, maybe he can fall asleep instantly, but my reason for bringing this up is the possibility that something else might have made him pass out. Possibly something to discuss with doctors.

It's just an idea, could easily be a bad one. Just thought I'd mention it.

[MSMILES]

My thoughts. He could not have had this accident if he dozed off. As you mentioned earlier that he remembers driving up to a toll gate, his speed would have drastically reduced and looking at the car, I seriously doubt it happened due to sleep.

I am also surprised that no one at the toll gate was able to explain the accident since he was so close to one.

Again, knowing that he is perfectly fine brings a sense of great relief.

I could be wrong but an honest guess.