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-   -   Crash video: Santro t-bones an Endeavour, causing it to topple (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/210466-crash-video-santro-t-bones-endeavour-causing-topple-3.html)

Remember that manufacturers give you as little metal as possible to reduce flab penalizing FE, handling etc. With the high CG, no surprise that the car rolled. A sedan probably wouldn't have rolled over.

Also, the rear of the Endy would have probably been empty. Weakest point for a body-on-frame SUV.

Hello

First of all sincerely hope that all the occupants involved in the crash were safe!

This could very well turn out to be an eye opener for the "big & mighty " on the roads especially when they think they can just muscle their way anywhere ; especially on the tarmac wherein speeds involved are high.

The cause though lies with both the cars; the endeavour for not waiting to take the turn and the santro for not slowing down at what seems to be an intersection/ clear gap in the median .
In spite of my earlier "big and mighty" comment i would give the benefit of doubt to the endeavour because he was hit by the possibly over speeding santro on his left rear and he did have the right of way whereas the santro would have had a clear line of sight !

I hope everyone is safe and learned their lesson.

The Endy guy thought his actions could not have repercussions because he has the biggest car. "No indicator" and he slowed down in the middle expecting everyone else to adjust for his actions. Maybe he was trying to scare the Santro guy for fun, which is not uncommon.

Santro guy would slow down in the future at intersections for unexpected vehicles/human traffic.

I don't understand why the Santro driver is being blamed here, the Endeavor didn't have his turn signal on and swung out into the oncoming traffic. The Santro driver had no obligation to slow down at the median, he's in the correct lane.

I hope that the Santro driver is compensated for the boorish behaviour of the Endeavor driver, bullying smaller cars didn't work this time. This is a clear case where negligence should factor in the insurance payment. The higher seating position of the Endeavor means he saw the Santro and decided to throw his weight around anyway.

Clear rule of the median, indicate that you're turning, let traffic behind you pass, and wait for a gap to cut across. The Endy didn't follow any of that,too bad the Santro driver had to pay the price because of this ignoramus.

There is a gap in the median.

If it was the authorities intention to allow the gap, shouldn't it have been clearly demarcated on either side? To the best of my experience, highway medians have (or supposed to have) clearly delineated openings, which provides ample space for those intending to turn to wait for an opening in the oncoming traffic.

Looks like this gap was an after-thought or illegally opened one. If it were so, shouldn't the authorities (or whoever it was who created the gap) also take responsibility for such mishaps?

The turning front wheel ( alongwith acceleration by the Endeavour driver) worked as a fulcrum and seems to be key in the topple.

I doubt a stationary Endeavour would have toppled

While no one is apportioning blame on the Santro driver he has an obligation to drive safely too. It is every drivers responsibility to ensure that they are doing reasonable speeds and have their attention on the road. If the Santro driver was fulfilling his responsibilities he wouldn't have slammed into the endeavor. And let's forget legal responsibility for a second, and focus on the Santro drivers responsibility towards his co-passengers; Don't you think he/she needs to be more cautious on the road for their sake?

You just did apportion the blame, what's your definition of reasonable speed when you're confronted with a jerk who suddenly swerves into your lane? The endeavour driver can see much further.

Let's not forget legal responsibility, and say chalta hai, the Endy clown should be made to pay for his actions.

He's on the left lane specifically because that lets you see those crossing the median a little earlier. At the break in the median, you'll pass slower traffic on your right. What other responsibilities did he have?
Any more caution would be not taking the car out at all.

Relax, I think you misunderstood me. The Santro driver is responsible to ensure the safety of the passengers in his car. Even if he is legally correct he wouldn't want to cause his fellow passengers any harm. The speed was so high that he rammed into the car. In India one has to be cautious. Still if you feel he was above blame, and doesn't need to bother about the safety of his own family, ok.

Very good point made by someone here about having speed breakers\rumble strips at such junctions. I observed a few things in this video:

1. In best case scenario the Santro driver may have spotted the nose of the Endy taking a U and panic braked causing the front of the Santro to lower its nose and thereby wedging the already elevated rear wheel of the Endy. This is enough to do the damage considering the 900odd kgs heavy Santro coming at a good 80-100kmph speed ( F=M*A)
2. People appeared to be safe in the video, I am assuming the driver in Santro was buckled up, so were the occupants on the Endy ( it beeps continually if you dont, even on the passenger seat)
3. Learning from the Video to slow down for vehicles moving in the fast lane and then negotiate a turn.
4. Not to try and intimidate smaller vehicles with the hotshot SUV you drive, their brakes\tyres\electronics may not be as capable as yours.

I think the thread is taking a turn towards "large SUV bashing". It was an accident. And more importantly, the footage does not contain anything that suggests "bullying" on the part of the vehicle that over turned.

The guy in the Endeavour managed to open the passenger door in spite of the fact that the car is lying on it's roof. Didnt seem to have any trouble opening it. That's some solid build quality.

It's the endeavour driver's fault. Basic rule of approaching intersections or merging states that you need to stop, look and then go. Not waiting for the oncoming vehicle and turning rashly, making the smaller vehicle screech to a stop is classic bullying. If the endeavour walla was a truck, the santro chap would have died, if the SUV driver was a biker, he would have been crushed to a pulp. Interestingly, if the santro was a truck or a bus, would the endeavour continued his blind careless turn?

Keep smiling when I watch the current ads that are being aired by Ford about safety of their cars. The rolling nature of SUVs was a big issue a decade ago and they mitigated by including anti-roll technology. I dont know how the Endeavour would survive a sudden lane change kind of manoeuvre at decent speeds. All crash tests seem to be inclined towards actual crash with stationary objects and few moving ones.

Compared to the old gen Endeavour (Everest) and Fortuner, both cars' current versions can be seen having a huge gap on fenders and suspended higher over the axles.

In a country where breaks in the median can be created willy nilly, the Santro driver had a duty to let go of the accelerator when he spotted the Endeavour waiting briefly across the median. If one cannot have a clear line of vision for hundreds of metres ahead with zero risks on either side of one's proposed direction, one must not keep speeding. (I assume he kept going at a fair clip with his foot on the accelerator until the moment of impact, since that's how it appears to be.)

There are others on this forum who swear by changing to the left lane in a right curve on the highway purely because you don't know what awaits you on the other side of the curve. There are yet more of those on the forum who avoid the fast lane in our country's highways, period (thanks to the risk of buffaloes, tractors, milkmen on mopeds etc. who can cross the road across the median and also due to the phenomenon of cars from the opposite side flying onto oncoming traffic by jumping the median). We observe accidents all around us and here on this forum and we create these rules ourselves in order to stay safe. One might want to consider this rule as well then - to drive fast, one needs a clear line of sight for at least a hundred metres with zero risk of any foreign bodies entering one's lane.

The Endeavour should have been clearly visible to the Santro driver, assuming there was no curve blinding him. It is a low and flat median over which the hulking Endeavour should've been visible from a fair distance away. IMO he could've prevented this accident altogether.