![]() | #21121 | |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: MUMBAI
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Best regards, Behram Dhabhar | |
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![]() | #21122 | |
BHPian | ![]() Quote:
Its just a good practice to keep in mind at what speeds the car is rated 5 stars. | |
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![]() | #21123 |
Senior - BHPian | ![]() Happened yesterday night at ECC road, Whitefield, Bangalore. Both the airbags deployed and passengers are said to be fine. SUV was overspeeding on a single lane road at a residential layout. |
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![]() | #21124 |
BHPian | ![]() This BMW accident has shaken me completely. More so because I drove down from Mumbai to Goa via this place on the night of 9th Jul with my family. It was raining heavily and I could not help but pray for those in BMWs/Audis and Mercs speeding away at 120+ speeds at the worst estimates of mine since I was myself in the range of 90s. There are perils on high speed carriageways especially when it's raining given that infrastructure in India is really pathetic. Had that concrete structure been made with a little curve, may be lost lives would have been saved. IMHO, there is no way a head on collision like that will be of lesser damage when the vehicle in triple digit speed hits a concrete structure built like that to bring it to a sudden halt. Imagine from 100 (probably more) to 0 in fraction of a second. Unbelted passengers on rear seats will just add to the damage. But then again, I somehow thought BMWs/Mercs/Audis were vault strong safe. That perception of mine is defeated. RIP departed souls. |
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![]() | #21125 | |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Electri-City
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![]() Jokes aside, wilful speeding inside residential layouts is a crime and the driver must be penalised. Sadly, (s)he will get away with a few thousands paid for the repair costs that do not get covered by Insurance. | |
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![]() | #21126 |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Unlikely as BMWs ride on run flat tyres with reinforced sidewalls and are less prone to sudden tyre burst. Even if it bursts, with RFTs, the driver can keep things in control much better compared to normal tubeless. Aquaplaning seems to be the most likely cause. I was wondering why ESP was not able keep the car from sliding out of control? Dogs and stray animals are other dangers in wet and slippery conditions. Even at 80 or 90 kph any sudden steering or brake input can cause one to lose control. |
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![]() | #21127 | ||
Team-BHP Support ![]() Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mumbai
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But ESP can help keeps things in control only if the tyres have some amount of traction. In a case like this where the car is aquaplaning, the tyres are not touching the road at all so no question of ESP being able to help. | ||
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![]() | #21128 | |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Quote:
Another thing that's important is to never use cruise control when roads are wet. Are modern cars clever enough to cut power when they sense a slide with cruise control activated? | |
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![]() | #21129 | |
BHPian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Pune
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Next time I will be extra careful on this bend, thank you!! | |
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![]() | #21130 | |
Team-BHP Support ![]() | ![]() Quote:
Perhaps NOT slamming the brakes and giving small steering inputs till you get control helps. Prevention of aquaplaning would involve - 1) Drivng at speeds of around 80 kmph 2) Good tread depth 3) Extra cautiousness during "fresh rains" (thin sheet of water, oil, mud, grime) 4) Extra cautiousness on empty highways 5) Disabling cruise control There is a school of thought that part-time 4x4 (AWD) which are mostly FWDs, but send power to rear when they detect slip, are more prone to aquaplaning. The logic is - 1) Front wheel lose traction 2) Power is suddenly sent to rear wheels 3) Vehicle oversteers because front has no grip and rear wheels are spinning vigorously 3) Vehicle loses directional stability If the above logic makes sense (its debated around, but is not scientifically proven), could it be that an accelerating RWD car is more prone to aquaplaning than a FWD car? Powered rear wheels = vehicle oversteering = loss of directional stability? Last edited by SmartCat : 13th July 2016 at 15:35. | |
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![]() | #21131 |
Senior - BHPian | ![]() Airbags are supplementary restraint systems (you always see SRS airbags). The primary defence is seat belt. An airbag opening up on a non belted up passenger can even harm the passenger and the effectiveness is totally unpredictable. |
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![]() | #21132 | |
Team-BHP Support ![]() Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mumbai
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As mentioned by smartcat, its more of a prevention rather than cure thing. I agree. But if the person is foolish enough to not wear a seatbelt, and say there is a crash at 80kmph I think it might be better to hit an airbag than to hit a hard dashboard. Last edited by Akshay1234 : 13th July 2016 at 15:50. | |
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![]() | #21133 | |
Senior - BHPian | ![]() Quote:
Some of the rental cars I drove in USA had an indicator showing if passenger airbag is ON or OFF on the dashboard, and that system works based on 2 sensors ; 1. Seatbelt buckled or not, 2. Weight on the seat. The indicator showed OFF when seatbelt was not used or when my 6 year old was in front seat with a booster and seatbelt buckled up. Edit: if my memory is correct, there was a manual airbag override switch as well beside the indicator. Last edited by arjithin : 13th July 2016 at 16:08. | |
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![]() | #21134 | |
Senior - BHPian | ![]() Quote:
I fail to see the rationale why they need to keep that section exposed. Is there any technical reason (apart from possibly lighting up the underpass with natural lighting), or is this simple antiquated design philosophy at work here? Last edited by itwasntme : 13th July 2016 at 17:49. Reason: Typo | |
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![]() | #21135 | ||
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai
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![]() Prevention is certainly better than cure. In fact the only possible excuse for aquaplaning is flash-flooding. There is no way we should be going that fast if there is any possibility of solid water on the road. How fast is That fast? I seem to remember being told 50MPH, so 80kph. And should be driving anything like that fast in heavy rain anyway? Probably not. | ||
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