Team-BHP - XUV500: Severe crash, but not a single airbag deployed (driver injured)

Quote:

Originally Posted by arvindb4 (Post 4431696)

Accident happened on 11th of May 2018. Based on reconstruction, as my son and his friend were brought to Fortis Emergency by an autorickshaw driver aided by onlookers, he was trying to avert a collision and swerved the car towards left. Went over the side footpath, crashed into a heavy metal fence and went into the green belt, where there was a cluster of trees and tree trunks. There was no roll over. The car spun perhaps and hit a tree trunk with severe impact, before coming to a stop. Had tweeted soon after the accident. That story with Mahindra is another story of apathy and frustration.

I lived through (pun intended) a similar event; perhaps even worse. I owe my life to God's unfailing grace, and to the build quality of my Volkswagen Polo. I had swerved left to avoid an irrational U turn taken by a vehicle on a highway; hit the service lane divider at high speed and turned over. Both airbags deployed and though dangling upside down from the seat belt, I walked away with minor bruises (the car was a total write-off)
I wish, you could have a competent authority check the vehicle and the components involved. It could warn countless others and maybe, save a few lives. Shortcomings in integrity (engineering or otherwise) cannot be condoned; all the more so, when there are lives involved. I hope and pray for your son's speedy recovery.

I am so sorry to hear about the accident. It is quite shocking to see the car being hit from almost all the angles one can imagine and still not a single airbag deployed. I was planning on purchasing an XUV500 but after this post, I myself am in a dilemma and reconsidering the decision. What's the point of spending so many big bucks on a car which cannot even be relied on during an accident. Accidents don't happen everyday but when they do, we expect the car to protect us.
When I was involved with an accident in my Laura in a frontal crash, the airbags deployed immediately, and even I could not believe how perfect the timing could get. I walked out scratch-less and had the airbags not present, I would have banged my head on the steering wheel badly. Instances like these are what make a car manufacturer reliable. No matter how much people curse the Skoda's high service cost, it's all worth it if it saves your life when required.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid (Post 4433344)

There is only one way to interpret the 'message' you have so carefully crafted - that it is in extremely poor taste.

How could you even consider "vouching" for the vehicle based on a feeling, to a man whose son's life has been severely impacted by an accident? Are you insinuating that this thread is meant to defame Mahindra, and has nothing to do with the fact that his son was grieviously injured - because YOU own the same vehicle and somehow feel offended?

The OP has been extremely composed and factual without resorting to hyperbole. Please respect his attitude and his circumstances.

Agree - Vouching for the XUV safety is out of question. There are at-least 4 instances on this thread where a XUV involved in an accident has not had its airbags deployed. Mahindra's vehicles should be off the buy list - I think build quality is an organizational thing. For manufacturers used to making unsafe big vehicles for transport, diversification into the passenger car market must be a strict 'no'
There are so many stories of how Mahindra is experimenting their petrol engine on poor KUV buyers. I wonder how safe the KUV would be.

I do recall an XUV with 6 airbags which crashed into a house opposite to where I was living in 2015. The road was having a steep curve right before the accident area and around 6 am I heard a big banging noise and ran out of the house to see a vehicled smashed into the wall of the house opposite to mine. The guy had slept off and none of the airbags deployed. But somehow we could take the person out and took him to the hospital I worked. He survived with some broken leg bones. Now looking back, I honestly believe something is wrong with XUV and its airbag deployment.

I am so sorry to hear about the accident. Praying for your son's fully & timely recovery.

I will share my one experience with xuv 5OO as well. During Oct 2015, I was in the market for a new car. Test drove xuv & everyone in the family loved it so decided to visit the showroom after couple of days to book the car. I decided to TD the car one more time before writing a cheque. During my test drive of W10 variant (which looked brand new & didn't have more than 100kms on odo), there was a T section of the roads. I was driving on the bottom line of T & wanted to take a left where it intersects with the top line of T. Top line was a nice eight lanes road & it was empty. Hence I decided to take the left in second gear. As soon as I was on the top line of T, I floored the accelerator to get a taste of accelaration of & handling. Due to sheer amount of torque, the wheel began to spin & before I could understand what was happening, it completed one full circle on the road :Shockked: Thankfully, neither any living creature was hurt nor there was any damage to the car. I specifically checked that ESP off switch was not activated before starting the test drive & after the spin I checked it once again. EPS was NOT off but it didn't intervene during the entire episode. :Frustrati

I calmly drove the car back to the showroom & cancelled my purchase decision of xuv after this extremely scary experience. After reading this thread, I search the forum & found following as well.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post3838856

I feel like screaming to scamming Mahindra about their pathetic attitude towards road safety.

Hi Arvind, I sincerely wish your son a speedy recovery.

As an XUV owner, I had attached a lot of importance to ANCAP 4 star safety rating before taking the final purchase decision. Your story has literally sent shivers up and down my spine many times. Safety features are paramount in my mind and I attach importance to these rather than fancy bells and whistles. Unfortunately, airbags are something that is beyond actual testing in the hands of an owner and now I have begun to have second thoughts about the whole business.

Manufacturers should have mandatory dealer point checks at defined intervals for all safety systems. I believe that this will go a long way in preventing such terrible injuries to the occupants in accidents.

Wishing your son a speedy recovery!

Quote:

Originally Posted by arvindb4 (Post 4431696)

1. he was trying to avert a collision and swerved the car towards left.
2. Went over the side footpath,
3. crashed into a heavy metal fence and
4. there was a cluster of trees and tree trunks.

Other points:

Quote:

Originally Posted by arvindb4 (Post 4431696)

• There was no roll over.
• The car spun perhaps and hit a tree trunk with severe impact, before coming to a stop

Airbag module/circuitry is triggered due to two events (high-level): Sudden deceleration (ECU/BCM controls this) or Impact detected by Airbag sensors on the front bumpers or doors/B pillar (this is routed through the BCM).

Recreating the accident scenario, there was no sudden deceleration, hence it is unlikely that ECU/BCM triggered a message to the airbag module. However, the airbag sensors should have detected the impact. There is a major impact to the driver side door which is enough to trigger the sensor on that side to deploy atleast the curtain airbags.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas (Post 4432205)

1.
You are correct, the manual has a full chapter dedicated for SRS (ch.6 "Supplemental Restraint System") but is silent about the placement or tech data about the airbag triggering mechanism.

I don’t understand the non-deployment of airbags on hitting a pole/tree. This means, there are probably just 2 sensors placed at the end of the bumper (to minimize costs??).

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 4432034)

Did some Google search and found RASSI - check if they can help. However, the website implies that they "help" automakers develop safer models.

I would also recommend reaching out to JP research India who perform independent crash investigations.

https://www.jpresearchindia.com/areas_expertise.html

I am so sorry to hear about your son, Arvind. Hope he recovers fully.

I have heard of another case with a Mahindra XUV 500 where the Airbags didn't deploy because someone didn't connect the sensors properly at the factory. The owner was compensated by Mahindra. I don't recall the compensation but it was a very high amount.

I heard this story from a Mahindra employee working in the R&D team.

My suggestion would be to take this to the company and threaten legal action (if not initiate legal proceedings).

I suggest we all tweet with the full force of the Team-bhp community to Anand Mahindra with a link to this thread. He is generally very active there.

Here's a link to his twitter account - https://twitter.com/anandmahindra

Quote:

Originally Posted by nerd1200 (Post 4433483)

I don’t understand the non-deployment of airbags on hitting a pole/tree. This means, there are probably just 2 sensors placed at the end of the bumper (to minimize costs??).

No idea, my friend. In fact, I did take a long look under the hood of my W8 yesterday and failed to locate it. The sensors are apparently not immediately behind the bumper. I am also not sure how does it look like...please:

Hi all,

When I was typing out the message, this was the exact response I expected. Without understanding the intentions of the person posting, the bashing began.

I would rest my case as I will clearly generate emotions that are not warranted in this situation.

Arvind, my prayers are with you. I wish your son a very speedy recovery and if I can do something to help, I would try my best.

Take care

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rationalist (Post 4433458)

Another instance of the XUV 500 airbags not deploying. Given the puny sales it generates, this number of airbag deployment failures seems astronomical. Really shameful for Mahindra as a car manufacturer

Mahindra as a brand is completely OFF my list and it is probably off many people's list. Badly designed vehicles, the scorpio itself is nothing but a bloated ego on the roads. The xuv is just an urban iteration of it.

My prayers to you in this very difficult time. Your son will come out stronger from this incident than when he went in before. And you have shown the courage of a father, a gentleman, and a warrior all in one.

If anything, the driving leadership team behind Team Bhp MUST stand behind you and help uncover the truth. The leadership team's onus is to help uncover this for and on behalf of every single mahindra car owner who is a member here and contributes actively.