[sidindica]

Swift Dzire crash at gurgaon killing 3 hotel employees after it hit a metro pillar following a tyre burst. Said car was driven at high speed. Pics taken from HT and TOI.

[sdp1975]

That's a horrific crash. Nothing is really left of the D'zire- even the cage has collapsed completely. A higher end variant with airbags may have been a saviour.

RIP.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

That's a horrific crash. Nothing is really left of the D'zire- even the cage has collapsed completely. A higher end variant with airbags may have been a saviour.

RIP.

I really doubt if the Airbags would have helped here. Curtain Airbags certainly would cushion the occupants but the structure of the car has entirely sunk in. Going by the newspaper report, the logic that this happened due to tire burst is just a guess, another guess they've made using eyewitness account is that the car was doing 130-140kph on poorly marked MG Road. The guys were returning from a party, all 3 worked in a 5 star hotel.

May the souls of the departed Rest in Peace.

[drmohitg]

That Dzire is in such a horrific state. When will people stop wasting there lives like this. I cannot understand the love for high speeds specially on roads like mg road. Just plain stupid to believe that nothing can go wrong with you. RIP.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

I really doubt if the Airbags would have helped here. Curtain Airbags certainly would cushion the occupants but the structure of the car has entirely sunk in.

Very true, airbags would have made no difference in this case. The structural integrity of the passenger cabin looks really poor in this case.

[AutoIndian]

On Saturday early morning (04:30am) I left my home for Nasik, car loaded with 5 adults. It was pitch dark, was cruising along smoothly @ 80-90kmph on NH50, crossed Narayangaon, Ale-Phata, when suddenly hit a bad patch. Twice the car went through deep craters (oncoming vehicles on high beam were aggravating the problem & I couldn't realize, how deep the craters were). The third hit was really a nasty one, there was a loud noise & the steering suddenly became tight. Since I was in full control I stopped within a couple of metres & took the car off the road. No one in the car realized why I had stopped, until I told them to get down in pitch darkness (it was 05:30 in the morning). I put the blinkers on & came out to inspect the front LHS tyre, as expected it was flat. I knew the inevitable had happened & this was a case of tyre burst. Without wasting any time further removed the spare tyre, assembled the hazard triangle & put it @ 30-40 feet behind the car on the highway, as the point where this happened was a sharp descending right hander & it was very essential to warn on coming vehicles @ the hazard. Within 20 minutes, changed the tyre & continued onward journey without any spare tyre. Had to cover130 kms more, hence very cautiously drove till Nasik @ 60-70kmph. After attending the function I started hunting for a new tyre. The shop (Bharat Tyres) on the highway did not have a Michelin in stock, but its other branch on HPT college road had one. Went there, fitted the new tyre. inspected the rim, there was minimal impact on the rim & all the hit was taken by the tyre. It had 2 parallel cuts on the side wall each @ 2" wide. Though I cursed Michelin initially for making tyres with such soft compound/ side wall, I realized only later that the tyre had sacrificed itself to save my suspension, my steering & all the occupants. I checked the steering fluid level, it was at optimum mark. Also lifted the hands off the steering, car moves in a straight line, so alignment is intact.

Lesson learnt: When you are driving in pitch dark on an unknown road, drive as if the worst is going to happen, so you won't take a hit like I did.

On an additional note, when I descended the Chandanapuri ghat I saw one white Honda City in a head-on collision with a KSRTC bus (might have caused during night time), the car was on the wrong side of the road, probably an overtaking manouvere gone miserably wrong or the city driver dozing off while at wheel . Its bonnet, windshield was completely damaged, don't know @ its occupants though. (Sorry for no pictures, as I myself was recuperating from the horrifying experience of a tyre burst)

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Had an accident last Saturday, was going to Pondicherry via the ECR route. This incident happened around 8:30 PM, the road was straight and there was no vehicle in front of us towards Pondy.

I was doing a sedate 80Kmph in my Chevy Spark, I saw an Indica coming in the opposite lane and suddenly he swerved to his right to save a goat. At that moment all I could see was two headlamps coming straight towards me, in order to avoid a head-on collision I steered towards left. The Indica guy seeing me, swerved again to get back to his lane. But this time he over-steered and his rear stepped out. His right rear hit my right fender and both front and the back doors. At the point of impact the Indica had turned almost 90 degrees with half of the car in my lane.

To my horror the Indica went straight in to a ditch only to be stopped by a tree. All of us got down from the car immediately and called 108 for ambulance. By that time a considerable amount of people gathered for rescue operation.

The driver had injury to his face and the lady passenger fractured her leg. Went directly to the nearest Police Station to inform about the incident. They came to the spot took necessary information and asked us to take the car to the Police station. The car was not driveable at that moment as it had a puncture because of the bent rim, changed the tyre and headed back to the Police station.

We continued our journey in a government bus to Pondicherry. It was around 11 -11:30PM, myself and my friends were discussing how lucky we were, it could have been even worse if it was a head on collision. Most of the passengers were sleeping peacefully, and I was admiring the scenic the OMR had to offer under the moonlight. Suddenly my friend found something strange about the bus, it was going slower than usual and was moving towards right straight into oncoming traffic. Then I heard conductor tapping the dash board. Our bus driver was sleeping peacefully, he woke up suddenly and started starring at the conductor as if he disturbed his nice nap behind the wheel. This must have repeated at least 5-6 times in the next 45 mins. One time both of them were sleeping and it was my friend who woke them up by banging the seat.

All in all one horrendous night.

Got an estimate from the dealer around 30,000 - 35,000 Rs. I will be shelling out 7,500 to 10,000 Rs and the remaining amount by the insurance company.

Got my car back, Total bill is 17800 Rs. The estimate that they gave before was after visual inspection of the damages. That also included replacement of rear door, just for a scratch.

I took my insurance from United India Insurance.
This is how it works,First you have to get an estimate from the dealer, a FIR if it exceeds 20,000Rs, Original insurance policy, RC book, Driving Licence. You should fill a claim forum(from insurance office) , and bring all the above documents. Once verified, they will forward it to a surveyor. He will go to the the workshop and access the damage. The dealer can start the repair once he has given the approval.

After this one have to pay the whole amount, submit the bill to the surveyor. He completes the report by calculating how much the insurer has to bear and forward the report to the office from where you took the insurance. Submit your bill and original policy at that office, and collect your insurance money.

This is how I did. I have no idea regarding other insurance company. But my dealer said that they are having tie up with ICICI Lombard insurance and several others where you can avail cashless facility. Which means I only need to pay 3000 odd Rs to get my car back, not the full amount and all the paper work will be done by the dealer.

[speedsatya]

I was driving on the NH48 this weekend and I was surprised to see the way most drivers drive .Even F1 drivers would take corners or overtake in a less aggressive manner .I had wifey keep the camera on ,as I was sure someone or the other would crash .

I stuck to my limit of 100 kph on the left lane with an occasional 120 kph ,but I was shocked to see small cars drivers ( Ritz,I20,I10 and Swift) race with each other and get into dangerous moves while trying to overtake each other .

All this left me wondering if driving actually makes sense .A bus would be a much safer option on our highways !

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

I stuck to my limit of 100 kph on the left lane with an occasional 120 kph ,but I was shocked to see small cars drivers ( Ritz,I20,I10 and Swift) race with each other and get into dangerous moves while trying to overtake each other .

All this left me wondering if driving actually makes sense .A bus would be a much safer option on our highways !

I think it comes down to inexperience and the lack of realisation of the consequences when things go wrong on the highway. People tend to get carried away with the fact that the highways have relatively lesser traffic and get excited with the prospect of driving fast. Today most cars are capable of high speeds when the road is available, small hatchbacks included. Add to that the ego of the drivers. God knows why, but nobody wants to be overtaken and definitely not by a vehicle which is a class below!

With power comes responsibility. This power is now available from the entry level segment onwards, but where is the responsibility?

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

I stuck to my limit of 100 kph on the left lane with an occasional 120 kph

Be careful when you drive on NH-48 next time as I came across police stationed with speed monitoring cameras last weekend at two places, one near Bellur Cross and another near Kunigal. I think they have reduced the NH-48 speed limit to 80 kmph. I had seen speed limit boards of 100 kmph between Nelamangala and Hassan three months back but they have replaced all the boards with 80 kmph now.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Klub Class

On the way, we spotted a Maruti Swift which must have been driven at speeds, north of 120km/hr :

Doing 110+ speeds is suicidal.

In a country like USA where driving is more disciplined, the max speed that too on a highway is 60mph(95kmph) and 70mph (110kmph) on some interstates.

Driving at 110+ that too in roads as depicted is insane. His license must be suspended for his whole life.

[speedsatya]

Another bus accident on the NH48 and this time an Isuzu

Puttur: Bus Plunges Into Ditch; Four Passengers Critically Injured

[bisasa]

Originally Posted by sidindica

Swift Dzire crash at gurgaon killing 3 hotel employees after it hit a metro pillar following a tyre burst. Said car was driven at high speed. Pics taken from HT and TOI.

A very horrific sight. When the Swift or Dzire is driven, it seems to be a car in control. Surprising how many of them are getting into big crashes. May be it is the confidence the vehicle gives, propels the drivers to test the car to its limits.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The car has a reputation for "performance" and is popular with youngsters. Thank god it is not actually as powerful as some think. The early Swifts are four or five years old now, which also probably makes a good buy for an inexperienced youngster.

[alstonlobo]

I got goosebumps reading this!!

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