[IamSaran]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

All accidents are driver errors.

If the other person is driving a two wheeler, cycle or is on two legs!

Originally Posted by r0ckstar.1

+1 to your comments. If the intent was to push it hard and test, then they have no right to be on public roads. These should be done in closed doors. Both the auto journalists and Ford are to blame and should take responsibility for the fiasco. Thank god that none were hurt in this incident, but, another day, it could have easily had some fatalities. People behind the wheels should first have "Moral Responsibility" towards other commuters, which sadly not may people in India fail to even understand. Government and auto manufacturers should educate people more on the meaning of being responsible drivers.

Ford should be blamed for this fiasco???? I am not sure if I understand the reason behind that statement. If they had encouraged the journos to just ignore all the traffic rules and test the limits of the car, then they should be punished. Otherwise I think it is an unwarranted statement.

[r0ckstar.1]

Originally Posted by IamSaran

Ford should be blamed for this fiasco???? I am not sure if I understand the reason behind that statement. If they had encouraged the journos to just ignore all the traffic rules and test the limits of the car, then they should be punished. Otherwise I think it is an unwarranted statement.

The reason why I say this is - Ford is still the owner of these test mules and it seems they are giving these away to journalists without "guidelines" on the limits of the tests. I am sure there was no Ford guy in the Ecosport that toppled (or was there one?). Don't you think, there should be someone from Ford sitting there and telling these guys not to cross the safe driving practices on a public road? How is this different from you/me taking a test ride of a car from a dealer?

[vnabhi]

I think we are jumping to conclusions. As far as I know, all drivers are asked to sign a declaration before the test car is allotted to them. In the declaration there would be verbiage to take care of Ford's 'vicarious liabiltiy', as it is defined in law.

The roads look free and I don't blame the driver for 'experimenting', else how would we readers get to know about body roll, handling, etc? Should we blindly believe the manufacturer?

An accident is an accident, so let us leave it as that. At least we got to know that the emergency assist call feature works.

[drmohitg]

Curious to know but who will pay for the repair of the car in this case? Ford or the involved driver? Also Ford will indeed get some good publicity out of this regarding the safety feature. They were really lucky to get out of this safe as any injury to any passenger would have worked like a jinx for the Ecosport.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by r0ckstar.1

Ford is still the owner of these test mules and it seems they are giving these away to journalists without "guidelines" on the limits of the tests.

Ford conducts a professional briefing session before every drive, and I can tell you that they stress on safe driving. Each car is also equipped with a walkie talkie (connected to the rest of the convoy) and has a pilot car, doctor, support car etc. There are refreshment stops every 90 - 120 minutes (a best practice, even if you are driving alone on a holiday).

From the description provided in the opening post, it does appear that this guy was driving like an absolute idiot. The stretch where this appears to have taken place is a narrow road with loads of curves, including innumerable blind corners. I know because I drove on this patch just a week back. Am just glad it was a bus and not an innocent motorcyclist in his path.

Unfortunately, for some folk, testing a car only means to recklessly redline it 100% of the time. I've seen reviewer monkeys whose tests start & end with wheel spins. Forget driveability or mid-range, their sole objective is to gauge what the limit is (theirs or the cars, that's a million buck question). This is not responsible driving (again, going by description in the opening post).

Most media cars have 3rd party insurance. The best way to make this fool drive responsibly is to make him pay for the accidental damages. That'll make him respect the property of others in the future.

P.S. Am glad no one was seriously injured, inside or outside the car. My heart goes out for this car no. 6. It's the same one we shot on the evening just before the disaster.

[rajeev k]

^^^

Unfortunately, for some folk, testing a car only means to recklessly redline it 100% of the time

Yes very true. This is the case with some of the guys who turn in as, expert cum buyer for used car purchases or as best man for the buyer, and try all tricks to cause damage to the car; physical as well as mechanical, exposing their sheer immaturity and lack of adequate skill & knowledge..

[Sheel]

I remember Sirish Chandran echoing the same sentiments in his column when the refreshed Honda Accord had been launched.

Remember him mentioning someone wanted to check as to whether the Air-Bags were present in the Car & that it actually worked or not. The other wanted to test the Car in a way which the Car wasn't supposed to be driven. Off-road.

Yogendra Pratap during Corsa Swing's (?) review too said the same about journos checking out top speeds on public roads when they had access to the VRDE @ Ahmednagar.

Maybe these main stream journos (the scandalized, sensation creating types of main stream press) need to be chaffed.

[Samurai]

The scariest part about of these media test drives is getting paired with a bad driver. Some reviewers have very little driving experience, some don't own a car, or drive cars only during these reviews. Such people tend to overcompensate by rash driving. I don't mean all, but it is common enough.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Is the Ecosport so easy to topple? If it is, then it is very bad news.

Oh yes you're right. The problem was in the nut connecting the steering wheel to the accelerator.

That's what happens when car companies woo all bloggers and media and forget that a flair for writing is NOT a flair for driving.

Like GTO said - I'm happy he hit a pole and toppled his car but did not kill some innocent bystander or motorcyclist or other road user.

I am curious - did that chap know that road well enough? Does the whole tamasha of flying out media to a fancy location for the drive mean that people are driving vehicles hard on public roads where they have no darnedest clue? If so, I think the next such involvement should have the car companies held liable for abetting manslaughter.

They should reserve such drives for the BIC.

(no aspersions on the TBHP mod team, but in a large enough group of media, some will be idiots!)

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by GTO

P.S. Am glad no one was seriously injured, inside or outside the car. My heart goes out for this car no. 6. It's the same one we shot on the evening just before the disaster.

So this means we have the Official TBHP report on the cards soon. Something that we all are waiting for.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

They should reserve such drives for the BIC.

+1. Excellent suggestion. Wonder why don't car companies actually do that. I mean what better way to launch your car than the F1 circuit ( and one of the best circuits at that). There would be ample straights and corners to test every aspect of your car combined with the right amount of safety measures in place.

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

So this means we have the Official TBHP report on the cards soon. Something that we all are waiting for.

Yes, its very much on the cards and if you failed to notice it is the main reason for delay in sales analysis thread as mentioned in the OP of that thread.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

+1. Excellent suggestion. Wonder why don't car companies actually do that. I mean what better way to launch your car than the F1 circuit ( and one of the best circuits at that). There would be ample straights and corners to test every aspect of your car combined with the right amount of safety measures in place.

There is a reason for it... I can imagine bloggers doing the drive on F1 circuits and then penning down as
"We tested it in test conditions, We leave it to readers to judge how the car would perform on the Indian roads. We do not know as Ford did not allow us to drive outside these circuits"


Off Topic: I am still not sure why the OP calls this as Dhamaka.. Come on..

[ramzsys]

I couldn't see any engine underside protection plate/cladding, as seen from the first picture.

[Guite]

The emergency call went out but who responded? The Ford team? Local police / ambulance?

Reading elsewhere, I believe the system calls 108 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_(em...lephone_number)). Please excuse my skepticism, does this number actually work, not only in Goa but other states also?

Originally Posted by GTO

It's the same one we shot on the evening just before the disaster.

Originally Posted by carwatcher

Yes, its very much on the cards.

Eagerly waiting for the usual very detailed official Team-BHP review.