[shifu]

It pains to post your own car's image here.

But here is what happened. One Sunday morning my friend and I drove down to Srisailam from Hyd. We finished darshan and before heading back (around 4pm) we went to Patalaeshwar Sadnam just like that. This place is down a slope. We went to that place, took a U turn and were coming out of Patalaeshwar Sadnam. As you can see from the map below, this small road joins the main road and I was taking a right on the main road.



On the left end of the road, exactly where these two roads meet (marked in red) is a electricity pole that was cut, with about 1-2 feet of the pole left. I don't know how I didn't notice this stub. I was very slow but since I was coming up a slope, the front bumper was sightly raised. It went over the stub, but the radiator and intercooler weren't lucky. The car went over the stub and the front two wheels were lifted off the ground because of the impact.

I didn't realize what happened because I had not seen the stub. Took few seconds to realize what happened. Switched to R, but the wheels were spinning in air. Switched off the car and came out. Saw that the coolant was leaking all over the road. Few locals gathered, and we tried lifting the car off the stub. No luck until about 10-15 more folks came and helped lift the car off. Finally, inspected the damage. This was the scene -



Realized that there was no way we could drive the car back to Hyd without coolant. Called VW helpline to check if I had RSA included in my extended warranty. I didnt. It would cost me 21k to tow it back to Hyd. Next called my insurance guys, ICICI. I apparently had not opted for RSA there as well. They said they would get back with the cost estimate.

While waiting for ICICI to get back, I posted my quandary to the T-BHP hyd WhatsApp group. It was the most intelligent thing I did . Now, I was not alone anymore. The entire group started helping me. Giri, Anurag and Pradeep started looking for local towing agencies. I am not a native speaker of Telugu, so their help really helped with the language barrier.

While these guys were busy helping me out, a local mechanic stopped by and suggested that he could do some jugaad temprorarily so that the coolant tank won't leak and we could then drive down to Hyd with a break after every 30 mins. Decided against that because
a) Didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere in the night in case the engine overheats (it was around 5pm).
b) I was not sure if insurance would cite the jugaad as a reason for not honoring the claim.

Next came a set of guys with jeeps who were suggesting towing the car by tying a rope and driving like that all the way till Hyd. While they would charge significantly less than a tow truck, I was not comfortable taking the car down the ghats without power (no power in steering and brakes). Decided against this option as well.

It was around 1740 hours, and my friend and I were planning to take a room for the night. Just then, all the hard work of the guys in the group finally bore fruit. Anurag had spoken to Sri Sai Car Towing agency (+91 9152548488) and that guy was very close to my location. I just had to call Sai and didn't have to explain my situation because Anurag had done all that for me already. We agreed on a rate very quickly (15k), and he agreed to take us back to Hyd that night. He finally came at 7pm. I was worried about crossing the jungle checkpoint at night, but Sai assured us that he would take care of it. Thankfully, he had good equipment. It took him 10 mins to jack up the front of the car and we were all set to start. I was slightly skeptical about towing the automatic, but he seemed to be very confident about what he was doing. The only hiccup was that the key didn't come out in "N". It comes out only in "P". So I had to leave the key in the car. Set the blinkers on, and started the journey back home.

It was a long way back home. While chatting with him he told us that he tows almost 2-3 cars every week. The nearest A.S.S for most of the manufactures (including Maruti) is in Hyd. And since most of the owners opt for A.S.S, he is doing well in his business. He also has a facebook page! This guy was great. Along the way, he also fixed a Innova that had a breakdown along the road. Fixed it in 10 mins flat!

Finally we reached Hyd around 0300 hours. Dropped the car at the service center and then went home.

VW took 3 days to repair the car. I have zero dep insurance. It costed around 65k to repair, out of which I paid around 10k for consumables. The car feels good, hopefully they did a good job.

Lessons learnt:
- Always take RSA. I never did because I rarely go far away from Hyd. But for those rare ocassions, it is a must have. I would have saved 15k.
- Always take consumables under insurance as well. I never realized that it is not included in the 0 dep. I would have saved 10k.
- Go with the gut. I was very tempted to try the two options mentioned by the locals. But I later confirmed with my SA that had I tried that, the insurance guys would have most probably rejected my claim.
- I am so blessed that I was part of the WA group. Without their help, I would have probably wasted a day at Srisailam waiting for a tow truck from Hyd.

[jaaz]

Sorry @shifu for the ordeal. This is part and parcel of our passion to drive. It can happen anywhere and anytime and that is exactly why it is called accident. It is natural that our eyes will be focused on the ongoing traffic before joining a main road. Anyhow, all is well at the end, except your monetary loss. But you learnt a lesson.

Hats off to Hyderabad Team-bhp members for helping another member.

[samkat1]

- I am so blessed that I was part of the WA group. Without their help, I would have probably wasted a day at Srisailam waiting for a tow truck from Hyd.

So sorry to learn that you had to face this but glad that it all got sorted out. Just wanted to check which WA group were you talking about? Wondering if it's some group for Hyderabadi Team BHPians.

[hemanth.anand]

This accident had happened yesterday evening after 17:00 on NICE road between Electronic City and Bhannerughatta Road junctions. No Idea how it happened. This was taken by a friend who sent it to me by 17:30. When I passed by around 18:00, the vehicle was just then removed and kept on the median but there was still a huge pile up

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

..accident .. on NICE road .. No Idea how it happened.

Its not hard to guess:
A fully loaded with cargo and top heavy (read dynamically unstable) Bolero pickup truck being driven at high speed on NICE road.

A slightly jerky swerve of the steering (to avoid an obstacle) is enough to unsettle the rear of the vehicle and send it rolling over.

Loaded, top heavy Bolero pickup trucks being driven recklessly is a common sight in Bangalore.

[prashantsoni23]

Hi @shifu,

Glad to know that you reached safe and sound, and that the community helped.

Thanks,
Prashant Soni

[shubhodeepdas@g]

Originally Posted by shifu

It pains to post your own car's image here.... Lessons learnt:....

Glad to know everything worked out fine in the end.

In such kind of cases their should be a provision to register a case of negligence with the authorities. Don't really know the surroundings here but I have seen many such stubs left behind on unlit roads waiting to pounce on a car or a bike from the darkness. Hit these at a decent enough speeds and there could be a possibility of life loss, specially on a two wheeler.

[shifu]

Originally Posted by shubhodeepdas@g

In such kind of cases their should be a provision to register a case of negligence with the authorities. Don't really know the surroundings here but I have seen many such stubs left behind on unlit roads waiting to pounce on a car or a bike from the darkness. Hit these at a decent enough speeds and there could be a possibility of life loss, specially on a two wheeler.

There were couple of constables there. They took a pic and said they have seen about 30+ such accidents so far at this spot. They have sent this information to the Executive Officer, but are waiting for his instructions to respond.

After my accident, we tied a tall pole with a flag on that stub so that the stub is visible.

[CornerCarver]

Originally Posted by shifu

It pains to post your own car's image here.

Very True. Nothing hurts more than reading the sorry story about your own car. I am very glad that nothing serious happened and it was just physical damage to the car which was quite well covered by the insurance apart from the consumables for which you had to pay for.

Such stubs of cut electricity poles/ trees are quite common in rural areas and are always to be watched out for especially while taking turns or reversing.

Once my friend's i10 slammed against a left over stub of a tree which was around 3 feet height during reversing manoeuvre and the results were quite damning.

A big round of applause for the Hyderabad WA group for helping out a fellow enthusiast when it mattered the most.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by shifu

Lessons learnt:
- Always take RSA. I never did because I rarely go far away from Hyd. But for those rare ocassions, it is a must have. I would have saved 15k.

RSA provided by insurance companies has a a very limited scope. I just checked my HDFC ergo policy and it states that the company will tow the vehicle to nearest service centre at no cost only upto a distance of 50kms. If distance is more than 50 kms then they will only suggest the service provider and the cost will have to borne by the insured.

VW's RSA is more comprehensive and IIRC they cover upto 500kms distance with other benefits as well. But the cost also is more , something like Rs. 2K per year as against Rs. 50/- which is the cost for the add on cover for emergency assistance by HDFC.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

RSA---
VW's RSA is more comprehensive and IIRC they cover upto 500kms distance with other benefits as well. But the cost also is more , something like Rs. 2K per year as against Rs. 50/- which is the cost for the add on cover for emergency assistance by HDFC.

VW's 2 year valid RSA costs ₹ 4555 / ( this was taken in 2017).

Highly recommended assistance for all VW owners

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by volkman10

VW's 2 year valid RSA costs ₹ 4555 / ( this was taken in 2017).

Highly recommended assistance for all VW owners

Monsoon offer going on right now. Available for Rs. 3,666/- as of now!

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

I heard about a gruesome accident on Bangalore-Mysore highway, near Mandya, yesterday. Two youths were hit by a truck and got caught in the wheel.

Apparently, they were dragged for over 250 meters, and were pulverised!!

Any additional info/reports on this?

Here is the news report: https://starofmysore.com/four-killed...urs-in-mandya/

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Here is the news report: https://starofmysore.com/four-killed...urs-in-mandya/

What a horrible incident. I heard from a colleague that there was bumper to bumper traffic on the Mysore Bangalore side yesterday evening, with two isolated accidents. One of them was a pile up since the cars were too close to each other and rear ended one another. It is high time this road is avoided during weekends and during the end of any vacation. Kanakpura road is taking some load these days too and the stretch between Harohalli to Bangalore is pretty bad. Hope they commence the widening of the road soon and also work on Bypassing the towns in between. It is both safe for the locals as well as travellers.

[NPV]

Another fatal DUI accident in Bangalore, this time on a city road during wee hours. The deceased was a teenaged boy and the driver a Doctor

Source:The New Indian Express Bangalore - Link