Team-BHP - My Dzire met with an accident

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Originally Posted by sharadmumbai (Post 3310529)

Wishing a speedy recovery to your Dad.
I'm not going to purchase any car without any Airbags in future.
However, having safety features itself is not sufficient. One also needs to be familiar about when and how will they deploy and Dos and Donts for the same. I wonder how many of us would have actually read the car manual.
Eg- If the car has air bags, one should never allow young children (till a certain Height) to be seated in the Front passenger seat. They should always be seated at the rear seat. Also, the rear seat occupants should always wear seat belt.
I find it very funny when sometimes during my market visit, the driver literally sits in front of the seat belt ie its behind his back and I buckle up in the rear seat. The guy sheepishly tells me not to put the belt saying that " yahan hawaldar nahin pakdega"!!!!

I think this really must be advocated :thumbs up So many things that people are unaware of. Once an ex of mine who was in the co-passenger seat said, while I was driving pretty quick for certain reasons: "it's chill yeah? We've got loads of airbags and stuff" I told her to just put her seatbelt on and pray to god (needless to say, at the end of the day when we had time, I explained it all to her). No amount of airbags or other tech will save a life if the seatbelt is not put on first. Some other things that loads of people don't know of is that the steering wheel ought to be in the right position (elbows ought to be a little bent), there is also a perfect position for the head-rests (only then can they prevent whiplash injury) and a perfect height for the seatbelt if your car has the option.

I believe it must be made mandatory for companies to explain all of this to people that buy their cars.

Hope your father is on route to a speedy recovery Adi, also that his fears are ironed out soon :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by IshaanIan (Post 3310560)

Thanks man :) visited the doc today he says that the recovery is real fast and great so he is removing the external fixtures in half the time to be more previse on 11th plus I took him in the car today to the hospital and he was actually enjoying the ride. Looks like he will be back to the driver's seat sooner than later.

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Originally Posted by chaudh2s (Post 3309917)

This is what a 5 star NCAP (dezire) can do to your safety as against a 1.5 star NCAP(accent). But, still surprised to see how your dad broke his leg, when the majority of the impact seems to be on the passenger side. Further, 3 point seatbelts and anti submarine seats must have resisted him sliding forward. Looks like there was intrusion of engine components from firewall into the cabin.

+1 to this. It really shows how car technology has advanced in just a couple of generations. An entry level sedan (Dzire) coped 10 times better than an old sedan from a class higher (Verna, which is today's Accent is definitely a class higher!). Airbags obviously helped but if you see the extent to where the damage reached, it virtually ends at the A-pillar/door - front fender line on the Dzire. No intrusion in the cabin as such. The Accent, on the other hand, has damage right to the C pillar on one side. I feel secure owning a Zdi Swift. One should never compromise on safety kit nor on the actual Euro NCAP rating of a car.

As far as the foot injury is concerned, it is entirely possible that the gentleman driving the Dzire jammed on the brake and/or clutch pedal at the time of the impact. Force of impact + opposite force of pressing pedal = fracture. Remember Michael Schumacher broke his leg jamming on the brakes at Silverstone in 1999. It's quite a common phenomenon in high speed impacts.

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Originally Posted by T.U.P (Post 3310614)

Wishing your father a speedy recovery. My, i got shocked when i read this article! Hope he is all right now. Forgive me for asking this as I'm a newbie to cars, but don't ALL cars have airbags as a feature? Isn't this mandatory?

Safe travels,
T.U.P

It is mandatory for cars in most countries to have airbags and abs but in india because of the budget focused public the manufacturers make variants which do not have safety features so the car becomes affordable. The airbag and abs version are pricier than the other version. In fact I have seen many threads on team bhp itself in which BHPian's have given up airbags and abs to get a superb audio system or some other after market accessories. Another stupid excuse I found recently is that airbags are not trustworthy they may explode without any reason. This might happen due to technical defect but it doesn't happen all the time and is very rare.

dzire vdi= no abs + no airbags = 6.9 ex showroom

dzire zdi = abs + airbags = 7.9 ex showroom

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockporiom (Post 3310574)

All the very best to your dad, he is definitely very courageous as an accident usually scars a person's mind and is great to see that he will be back to driving, I was involved in a motorcycle accident about twelve years back and even though there were no grevious injuries it took me some time to convince myself to drive a two wheeler again, Three cheers to your dad :thumbs up, I am sure he is a role model for many people:)

rockporiom - I don't think it is easy to remember a thing if you have just met with an accident ... the fact that he could remember your phone no. shows a lot about the way he handled himself during the situation. I really admire your dad ...wishing him a speedy recovery!
I have now dropped the idea of gifting a automatic dzire to my dad since it doesn't come with airbags... its either a Dzire ZDi or my search continues to get a combination of automatic and adequate safety.

Moderator Note : Please avoid typing with excessive dots.........like................this.

Thanks

Shocking incident and the photographs chilled me through my spine!

Wish your father a speedy recovery and feel terribly sorry for the dead. I am equally surprised at how this fellow was doing speeds of 130 with his mother sitting next to him. He should have been more careful, if not for his own safety, then for the safety of his parents. My mother starts shaking if our car touches 50 kmph with her inside and she asks to slow down. I should add, that we do oblige her whenever possible and jokingly point out how the average bicycles are going faster than us, to which she says "let them go, because we're not in a hurry."

No matter how skilled one is behind the wheels or how much experience one has of driving, there is just not enough time to react when doing speeds in excess of 70 kmph and everyone should know this before they get behind the wheels. And in case of head-on collisions the speeds of the two vehicles add up and the result is almost always fatal. Thank God for seatbelts and airbags. They do save lives and your story is a testimony to that! But no way are they a license to throw caution to the wind.

Extremely disheartened to read of such an accident.

Safety measures always save the day and yes, those who don't realise this and prefer to keep the money for after-market led lighting and sub-woofers rather than on ABS/airbags etc are really shallow minded.

Even on cars without the "optional" safety equipment, seat belts are present on each car sold in the world no matter how cheaply priced it may be. But who is to compel the occupants to actually use one! I have very good, literate friends and family and living in Agra who drive good cars with all equipment on board. But seat belts are considered as hassle and the statement "agra me koi nahi check karta sirf dilli me tension leni chahiye" is on everyone's lips. In fact to stop the seat belt warning beep, the belt is latched first and then the driver sits on the seat and on top of the belt. So much jugaad is applied NOT to wear it.:deadhorse

Sad to hear about the whole episode. I would blame the safety norms in India for such incidents. We seem to care if the ORVM is body coloured or if it can close with a button. As Team BHPians, guess the time has come to make ourselves heard by the govt and OEMs to list out what is basic and what is a premium fitting. ABS and Airbags needs to be included like an engine and 4 wheels in the base version while other ornamental features can be part of the higher versions.

And what about road safety education for people who consider the road like a walk in the park? No offense meant but a majority of us in India dont know how to cross a road. Can TBHP do something - sort of a revolution?

rockporiom, I am very happy to know that your father is alive and recovering fast. It all wouldn't have happen if other car driver was driving his car bellow 60kmph which is the safe and sensible speed on Indian roads. One should not speed except express highway on Indian roads due to various hazards present on roads.

I would like to take this opportunity and warn everybody about danger from cyclists on the road. Cyclists specially kids and one with the load on it are not always able to control there balance and may fall or twist causing sudden shock to you as they will suddenly come in your way.

Whenever you see cyclists slow your car or move to one lane away from them so that there are no chances of you hitting them even if they fall. Exercise extreme caution about this specially when driving in villages to ovoid any accidents.