Mercedes S-Class Accident : Owner dead, Airbag doesn't activate and Court orders FIR

[dhiman]

Originally Posted by gaurav_diavolo

the Mercedes people were outright rude in saying 'the airbags are linked to seatbelts, maybe he wasnt wearing a seat belt' without any probe.

If there is any truth to it, how come the passenger side airbag deploy?

[iceman7]

Here's a link to a few more pictures that show the impact on the S-Class. Mercedes Benz Technical Failure causes Death | Punjabi Portal Articles

[vina]

Originally Posted by GTO

They actually do. Both front airbags of Moderator Rtech's Octavia needed to be replaced, at a whopping cost of 1.2 lakhs (IIRC). The insurance covered 50% of the cost.

Also, if you go for the new 0% depreciation plans, the insurance will cover the entire cost.

In my defence - till a few months ago I thought they did, then somebody on one of TBHP threads wrote they don't (with so much confidence oozing out of his language that people like me wouldn't question). TBHP can on occasions have misinformation amplified.

I still don't think insurance companies have anything to do with it. Their liabilities do sometime include injuies to third parties - airbags may save a lot more.



Coming back to the issue - from the video posted in post #1 (parts of it that show the car) and the picture in post #3 coupled with the descrition of the accident I am still at a loss as to how a car hits a truck with its right (i.e. the driver's side) and then jumps over the divider which must have been to the car's right as well.

Either I'm missing something big or something is missing from the story told so far.

Now, if the car hit the truck with it's left side (i.e. passenger's side) then it makes sense that the passenger side airbag deployed (may be driver was trying to rake some evasive action and the sensors decided this was the best course of action).


As far as speeding is concerned, looking at the width of the road in the picture and the description of the accident (car hit the truck, went over the divider to the other side and then hit the kiosks violently enough to cause damage) it is very unlikely that the car wasn't speeding in the first place.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by vina

In my defence - till a few months ago I thought they did, then somebody on one of TBHP threads wrote they don't (with so much confidence oozing out of his language that people like me wouldn't question). TBHP can on occasions have misinformation amplified.

Which is the beauty of a forum . If one spots an error, there is an opportunity right there to step in and correct it.

Direct link to post

And

here's a link to United India insurance that states the 50% deduction on airbags.

[Mpower]

Airbag firing would not have helped in this case because the the intrusion has completely entered the cabin. Front end of the car is intact.

If the truck had an under-ride bumper his life would have been saved.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Modern cars are designed to absorb impact by redirecting the energy to save the passengers. But they are not designed to absorb all the force of impact on A Pillars. No car in the world will survive this kind of direct impact on A pillars, who do we blame here- The bad design of the trucks and lack of any safety norms.

Adding to what Anshuman says, the problem is not the car but the design of the truck that it impacted.

Unfortunately I also find myself repeating the same sad explanation every time there is another fatality.

[aaggoswami]

1) Agree with .Anshuman. The Indian trucks are way too high. Their so called bumpers are feets above the ground. Any low car will have impact straight into the A-pillar.
We cannot call this Mercedes-Benz blunder and Airbag failure. Given the shape the A-pillar is in, I doubt if Airbags would have helped. The A-pillar is reduced to just one thin panel, that high was the impact energy.
Contrary to other's belief, considering that the car has taken multiple hits at kiosks, it has stood up rather good IMHO.

2) I wonder where the car was located relative to the truck because its the right side A-pillar which has taken hit. Either the car was in right lane and truck came from left, seeing this the car driver took a sudden left turn so right A-pillar got hit.
OR
The car was in left lane and the crash happened.

Wonder what was the scene, but the high truck designs are to be blamed. I have seen many accidents where in the cars are literally ripped from A-pillar but the entire hood area is relatively unaffected.

3) I am pointing out a couple of images from where I believe that the thing which is marked are airbags.
Images are sourced from : Mercedes Benz Technical Failure causes Death | Punjabi Portal Articles

[Suess]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) Agree with .Anshuman. The Indian trucks are way too high. Their so called bumpers are feets above the ground. Any low car will have impact straight into the A-pillar.
We cannot call this Mercedes-Benz blunder and Airbag failure. Given the shape the A-pillar is in, I doubt if Airbags would have helped. The A-pillar is reduced to just one thin panel, that high was the impact energy.
Contrary to other's belief, considering that the car has taken multiple hits at kiosks, it has stood up rather good IMHO.

2) I wonder where the car was located relative to the truck because its the right side A-pillar which has taken hit. Either the car was in right lane and truck came from left, seeing this the car driver took a sudden left turn so right A-pillar got hit.
OR
The car was in left lane and the crash happened.

Wonder what was the scene, but the high truck designs are to be blamed. I have seen many accidents where in the cars are literally ripped from A-pillar but the entire hood area is relatively unaffected.

3) I am pointing out a couple of images from where I believe that the thing which is marked are airbags.
Images are sourced from : Mercedes Benz Technical Failure causes Death | Punjabi Portal Articles

the same question i asked Mike but i didn't get any answer. for me it seems side bags also depolyed at the time of first impact but cutted to threads by the subsequent impact of truck which has wipped/ripped off the complete right side of car. in this kind of accident, airbag won't of any help, i am afraid to say. we don't have airbags in F1 cars and drivers still survive in those fatal and spectacular F1 crashes! because the cabin stay intact and that is the most important part of car safety.

[vina]

Originally Posted by Suess

... we don't have airbags in F1 cars and drivers still survive in those fatal and spectacular F1 crashes! because the cabin stay intact and that is the most important part of car safety.

May I add that the driver is completely immobilised by the harness. Seat belt is a must in road going cars.



Back to the topic - the Punjabi portal link in the posts above has a picture of the road (attached here). The following is the description of the accident from the victim's family:


"A truck moving parallel to his car, took a sudden turn due which he had to apply sudden brakes. Unfortunately he hit the truck from the driver's side. Due to the collision the rod, ...which holds the windscreen of the car broke and hit Nirmal near the shoulder, which caused him to loose control of the car. " From post #7 and

"When the car hit the truck, it lost control, crossed the divider and ended up hitting some road side shops which resulted in maximum damage. It didn't go under the truck." From post #11


Now the road has two lanes. Which lane was the car in, left or right? and which lane was the truck in left or right?

If the car was in the left lane and truck in the right, the car can't cross the divider post-accident.

If it was the other way round, the car would hit the truck on the passenger side, not the driver side.



I thought that by "divider" in his post Mark my have meant the sidewalk - but there is no sidewalk on the road in the picture.


Also - "which holds the windscreen of the car broke and hit Nirmal near the shoulder, which caused him to loose control of the car" - the deceleration experienced by the car may not have been enough to deploy the airbag in the first place. The car's condition looks pretty good for the severity of the accident described.

[Suess]

Originally Posted by vina

.....
Coming back to the issue - from the video posted in post #1 (parts of it that show the car) and the picture in post #3 coupled with the descrition of the accident I am still at a loss as to how a car hits a truck with its right (i.e. the driver's side) and then jumps over the divider which must have been to the car's right as well.

Either I'm missing something big or something is missing from the story told so far.....

Originally Posted by vina

May I add that the driver is completely immobilised by the harness. Seat belt is a must in road going cars.


"A truck moving parallel to his car, took a sudden turn due which he had to apply sudden brakes. Unfortunately he hit the truck from the driver's side. Due to the collision the rod, ...which holds the windscreen of the car broke and hit Nirmal near the shoulder, which caused him to loose control of the car. " From post #7 and

"When the car hit the truck, it lost control, crossed the divider and ended up hitting some road side shops which resulted in maximum damage. It didn't go under the truck." From post #11


Now the road has two lanes. Which lane was the car in, left or right? and which lane was the truck in left or right?

If the car was in the left lane and truck in the right, the car can't cross the divider post-accident.

If it was the other way round, the car would hit the truck on the passenger side, not the driver side.



I thought that by "divider" in his post Mark my have meant the sidewalk - but there is no sidewalk on the road in the picture.


Also - "which holds the windscreen of the car broke and hit Nirmal near the shoulder, which caused him to loose control of the car" - the deceleration experienced by the car may not have been enough to deploy the airbag in the first place. The car's condition looks pretty good for the severity of the accident described.

yes, it is hard to imagine the course of events at the time of accident with those pics and descriptions given. it doesn't add quite well. I think the case is in court now and we will see some facts and sense come out of it.

just my opinion, but going against MB is not a big help here, while only they would be having experties(at least in india) to do forensic work and find out what actually (might) have happened at least to the car at the time of accident. but then they might do that to make their case anyway.

regarding F1 seat belts, you are right, the F1 drivers are "hold down" in their seats with 6 point belts and additional harness on helmets. i just didn't mentioned that because i was just talking about car body and it's importance in keeping you safe.

[deepjaju]

My deepest condolences to you and your entire family.
I really hope u get justice and closure for this tragic incident.
Please keep us updated with the whereabouts of the case.

[S5157]

The earlier model S-Class used to come with passenger seat weight sensors so that only if a passenger is seated the passenger side air bags would deploy.

Do the new models have that feature? If yes , I see a major flaw in the airbag system of the car in question, the passenger airbag deployed without a passenger on passenger seat.

[S5157]

Originally Posted by ajmat

There was no frontal impact so the sensors did not activate for front airpacts. The front A pillar was ripped off. Judging by damage, the car was travelling pretty fast and the A pillar got ripped by the truck. I doubt if any airbag would have helped.

I could be wrong.

Whatever it is , condolences to the departed soul

The S-Class also comes with crash sensors on doors so that side airbags will inflate in the event of crash. Looking at the picture A pillar and driver doors has taken the beating and it should have triggered the side airbags. Also there are other sensors like air pressure sensors that should trigger the airbags.

Note: i got this information from Mercedes Benz India website.

I am not saying that airbags would have saved the driver's life, but we should understand that most of safety features advertised by manufacturers of premium cars are only good on ads and hypothetical/test situations.

[abhinavsureka]

from whatever photos i've seen of the crash it is very clear that the airbags did not open due to a technical snag which is entirely the car's fault.. in one photo it looks like the driver's side curtain airbags did open (punjabiportal) but why did the front airbag not open???
The other question is about the traffic discipline.. truck drivers very often take sudden turns without looking.. should they not be dealt with very seriously? the truck owners should also be taken to task to ensure safety on our roads

[Skyline GT-R]

RIP Nirmal.

If an A Pillar has to be sheared under impact, i can't even guess the speeds the car was doing.

The curtain airbags seems to have deployed.

Keralites might remember the accident in which a business tycoons son got killed when his overspeeding Japanese origin car turned turtle & fell into the pit. Therefore it is not MB's fault alone. ABS, Airbags etc does not guarantee anything.

CMVR/ARAI rules which allow the present truck designs & RTO's who issue & renew vehicle permits overseeing the side protection bars (which is now mandatory for HCV's) are to blame.

[freewheelburnin]

My hearty condolences to the deceased person's family.What i see is that most cars cannot save you from an A pillar impact as it is an achille's heel.And Safety ratings are not taking into account conditions in our country.In a place like India the safest cars would be ones with higher ground clearance which can avoid going under trucks.There should be safety devices which should be able to fold the seat backwards using an A pillar sensor to save from critical injury in such situations.