[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by n_naik

Few pics of an alto that met with an accident near my home town in mid october this year. 4 people from a family (husband , wife, son , daughter) and a driver were travelling in that car.

The alto lost control, while overtaking a bus and hit a lorry. The lorry driver tried his best to avoid the head on collision but was unsuccessful. It is said that the specialist driver who was driving throughout the trip, was not driving when this mishap occured. All four of the family perished on the spot and the specialist driver succumbed to the injuries in the hospital.

Seeing the snaps made my skin crawl... Extremely sad news. May the departed souls rest in peace.
Would some lives have been saved if the passengers in the back seat were wearing their seatbelts ? I wonder..

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by n_naik

It is said that the specialist driver who was driving throughout the trip....

You mean a chauffer/paid-by-trip driver?

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by gurudutt

Sad state, when will people ever realized that if your are in a smaller and a more venerable vehicle, you need to be really really careful. Even the most modern and sophisticated cars are no match for a truck in a head on collusion. Must have been a divider less stretch of road.

What you have said makes perfect sense. The accident couple of months back in Pune when a tanker rammed head-on into a Merc E class had the same fate as the Alto occupants. The Merc having one of the best safety packages on earth could not save its occupants, all of them perished. Their starts would have really been bad that day, despite travelling in a Merc on a well paved road with a divider they met this fate.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by n_naik

Few pics of an alto that met with an accident near my home town in mid october this year. All four of the family perished on the spot and the specialist driver succumbed to the injuries in the hospital.

Really sad to see this. Although it appears that the alto may have been cut apart to free the occupants. Not sure though.. I Pray that their souls rest in peace.

[krish82]

RIP thats a Alt k10 i think which is a new car....Going by this, dont you think buying a SUV is safe, the probability of being killed by smaller vehcles is less. Something like XUV 500 with curtain airbags, if SUV is safter than sedan in same price bracket one should go for that, if he/she does more highway trips. The E class one is a revenge by God on them, you own one of the safer cars yet this has to happen. Any news of what speeds the above vehcles was driven, i am sure will be more than 100 + on indian roads!

[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

What you have said makes perfect sense. The accident couple of months back in Pune when a tanker rammed head-on into a Merc E class had the same fate as the Alto occupants. The Merc having one of the best safety packages on earth could not save its occupants, all of them perished. Their starts would have really been bad that day, despite travelling in a Merc on a well paved road with a divider they met this fate.

Folks, I really can't believe that can happen with an E class ! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that most of our trucks do not have proper impact barriers in front, so irrespective of the car you are in the car just goes under the truck and the impact instead of being in the front of the car hits the A pillars etc.

All makes me think that the best vehicles for Indian roads are SUV's, with the height there's no way the SUV would sink under a truck, then again it's all fate and God's will.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Think again! How many pictures of squashed SUVs in this thread? (Not that I've counted, but I'm sure there are...) Depending on speed, what is going to survive a head-on with something very large, and very heavy and very solid? Nothing divine ... just the absolute limits of materials strength and engineering.

Oh, and the drivers, of course. But not God.

[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Think again! How many pictures of squashed SUVs in this thread? (Not that I've counted, but I'm sure there are...) Depending on speed, what is going to survive a head-on with something very large, and very heavy and very solid? Nothing divine ... just the absolute limits of materials strength and engineering.

Oh, and the drivers, of course. But not God.

Yup but I still feel your chances of survival in a SUV are more than in a sedan.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

What you have said makes perfect sense. The accident couple of months back in Pune when a tanker rammed head-on into a Merc E class had the same fate as the Alto occupants. The Merc having one of the best safety packages on earth could not save its occupants, all of them perished. Their starts would have really been bad that day, despite travelling in a Merc on a well paved road with a divider they met this fate.
Attachment 842415

1. The car is not E class but C Class.

2. This is not Merc's design fault, look how truck's bumpers have hit directly on A pillars. Cars are not designed to absorb head on impact directly on Pillars, in this case i would blame the truck manufacturer for the bad design and our country's lack of safety laws. Ever saw a truck with bumper placed so high in any developed country. AFAIK it is now mandatory to have low placed bumpers in newer truck.

Any other car no matter how safe it is will deform similarly. AFAIK the C Class is amongst the safest cars around with 5 Star Euro NCAP rating.

Originally Posted by autoenthusiast

Folks, I really can't believe that can happen with an E class ! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that most of our trucks do not have proper impact barriers in front, so irrespective of the car you are in the car just goes under the truck and the impact instead of being in the front of the car hits the A pillars etc.

All makes me think that the best vehicles for Indian roads are SUV's, with the height there's no way the SUV would sink under a truck, then again it's all fate and God's will.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Think again! How many pictures of squashed SUVs in this thread? (Not that I've counted, but I'm sure there are...) Depending on speed, what is going to survive a head-on with something very large, and very heavy and very solid? Nothing divine ... just the absolute limits of materials strength and engineering.

Oh, and the drivers, of course. But not God.

Originally Posted by autoenthusiast

Yup but I still feel your chances of survival in a SUV are more than in a sedan.

Agreed higher SUVs may have height advantage in such cases with such high bumpers and are less likely to slip under these high vehicles.

I feel dynamically and structurally the chassis based SUVs are not as safe as monocoque sedans. SUVs have comparatively poorer braking performance and more likely to roll over in case of an emergency manoeuvre.

Our tried and tested Scorpio even with beefed up safety is one of worst tested cars in US in terms of safety. Please search net for more details.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Agreed higher SUVs may have height advantage in such cases with such high bumpers and are less likely to slip under these high vehicles.

I feel dynamically and structurally the chassis based SUVs are not as safe as monocoque sedans. SUVs have comparatively poorer braking performance and more likely to roll over in case of an emergency manoeuvre.

Our tried and tested Scorpio even with beefed up safety is one of worst tested cars in US in terms of safety. Please search net for more details.

yeah, fact!
All structural safety tests are done with standardized road conditions and road occupants, key being the occupants of the road.
On our roads, all that goes for a toss.
you cant know which will be safer, an omni, or a mercedes!!
its all relative, depending on who you face up with!

5 star ncaps would fail against the jugaads running on our roads, as happened with the C.
So, an SUV may help in a contest with our trucks and what not, but yeah, they have been tested and shown to be more unsafe for occupants, coming out the worse even against hatches.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by autoenthusiast

Yup but I still feel your chances of survival in a SUV are more than in a sedan.

It's all about feeling. It begins with the misconception, from which we all suffer, that our little steel boxes are strong and safe. All over the world, people drive vehicles that may be excellent, as vehicles go, with air bags, with seat belts --- and die hitting a tree.

Just possibly, the only typically-Indian factor in the Merc/Truck collision was that they came to be head-on in the first place?

[gurudutt]

Originally Posted by krish82

RIP thats a Alt k10 i think which is a new car....Going by this, dont you think buying a SUV is safe, the probability of being killed by smaller vehcles is less. Something like XUV 500 with curtain airbags, if SUV is safter than sedan in same price bracket one should go for that, if he/she does more highway trips. The E class one is a revenge by God on them, you own one of the safer cars yet this has to happen. Any news of what speeds the above vehcles was driven, i am sure will be more than 100 + on indian roads!

I think its the old alto and not a K10, look at the tail lamps and it also doesn't have a body colored dumper.

The merc accident was mentioned in this thread before, it was a case where the truck jumped the divider and ploughed into the car.

[LobsterB]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Our tried and tested Scorpio even with beefed up safety is one of worst tested cars in US in terms of safety. Please search net for more details.

I could not come across any US NHTSA Safercar rating for any Mahindra. But did come across Australian ANCAP here Did you mean this or another?

[accentgiri]

Saw this accident on NH4 on last saturday 12/11/2011 near Krishnagiri... Underparts of the lorry has been completely ripped off
Other than the lorry no other vehicle seem to be involved in the accident.

[john doe]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

What you have said makes perfect sense. The accident couple of months back in Pune when a tanker rammed head-on into a Merc E class had the same fate as the Alto occupants. The Merc having one of the best safety packages on earth could not save its occupants, all of them perished. Their starts would have really been bad that day, despite travelling in a Merc on a well paved road with a divider they met this fate.

Attachment 842415

There is an amazing story behind this photo.

The most famous builders in Pune are the Kumar Group.

Now they have lost a couple of family members due to drowning in seas, floods, etc.

Mr.Vimal Kumar Jain of this group was told by astrologers to stay away from water, at risk of life.

Look what hit his car ( coming from the other side of a flyover, after jumping over the divider): a water tanker!!!!!!

Read about the accident here:
Pune builder killed in Nigdi road mishap - www.daily.bhaskar.com