[S.Shyam]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Knowing how to swim is a double-edged sword.

If you look at page 3 of a newspaper, you will notice that close to 100% of drowning incidents involve young (mostly) males who have ventured into sea, river, lake, pond or waterfalls. All because they "know" how to swim. Those who do not know how to swim take all the precautions and don't take unnecessary risks.

This point above is noteworthy. when seatbelts were made compulsory in the west, drivers ended up speeding and taking risks more often causing more lethal accidents as a result.

[InsaneSpeed]

This is indeed a sad incident specially when onlookers had the time to make a video of the incident and not have the time to dial any emergency services. When you are in a panicky situation it is easy for the brain to be confused and therby not send the right signals to think rationally. In this situation had anybody dared to try rescuing the couple the thumb rule would be to grab the person by his hair or T-shirt collar and swim backwards avoiding direct contact. Off-course you need to have tremendous stamina to do this.

[Sendhil]

I have spent half my professional life working offshore and the other half involved with design and construction of offshore structures.

While offshore I was the safety officer, responsible for safety of personal on board. During my safety brief when people came on board there were a two points that I used to stress upon.

1. Each individual is responsible for his safety. If you take this responsibility seriously and keep yourself safe, then everyone onboard will be safe.
2. While offshore, (we are taking about many mile away from shore) if you know swimming you will struggle and die. If don’t know swimming you will die quickly.

So understanding your responsibility and acting accordingly is a must.

Understanding the risk In life and managing it reasonably is also a must.

More so when you have people around you who will take video of you dying but not extend a helping hand.

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

May the departed souls RIP.

Looking at the number plate of the car, it just struck me that I had recently seen this car listed for sale in Mumbai for about 30 lakhs. It must have been a new purchase for them, so it could be that the driver wasn't used to driving such a powerful and heavy car.

No, I don't think so. This is still a first owner car only. Meaning it was their own car since 2010. Guess it was registered in his dad's name.

[Sanidhya mukund]

Originally Posted by stanjohn123

No, I don't think so. This is still a first owner car only. Meaning it was their own car since 2010. Guess it was registered in his dad's name.

The ad mentions the car as a first owner car, but I think the Ahmedabad couple were the second owners. They probably bought the car seeing that ad.

The RTO app shows the current owner as the second owner. Also, if you see this picture of the recovered car
(found it on Ahmedabad mirror), the number plate has a sticker that says 'crystalcarz.com' which is the name of a used car dealership.

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

The ad mentions the car as a first owner car, but I think the Ahmedabad couple were the second owners. They probably bought the car seeing that ad.

The RTO app shows the current owner as the second owner. Also, if you see this picture of the recovered car
(found it on Ahmedabad mirror), the number plate has a sticker that says 'crystalcarz.com' which is the name of a used car dealership.

Alright. I checked on the website and it didn't show the no. of owners on that.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by DrVjy

Such a high- end car, the Mercedes, perhaps close to a crore INR, has not even a micro protection feature of activating floatation, even if partial.
Looks like all car makers need to do some sensible re- thinking and step outside their favourite department of crash energy management.

Originally Posted by hareshjethwani

Was wondering if Mercedes could provide a system where they could activate the air bags in the car during flooding which would help to keep the car afloat for at least a brief period.

Are you guys serious? Way too much hypothetical.

The automakers need to think about adding these features just because there are a few people who drive cars on water and then rest all the car buyers bear that extra cost (design or whatever costs that might get added to the car price)?

I believe then an ejection seat can also be on the wish list, just in case of another sort of emergency (like when a truck coming head on and you have no way to go or a fire..)
Or they already are there?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sendhil

2. While offshore, (we are taking about many mile away from shore) if you know swimming you will struggle and die. If don’t know swimming you will die quickly.

Off topic: In the olden days, for this very reason many seafarers and fishermen choose not to learn to swim. Their thinking was, if I fall overboard, I want it over quickly. These days the thinking is quite different, because with proper gear and safety procedures the chances of being rescued are much better.

I have experienced twice, first hand, on ocean going tug /Anchor handling tug, sailors being washed overboard during towing/anchor handling operations in very rough weather conditions. Both could swim, we had a special protocol in place and we had them back on board in 5-10 minutes. One was in the tropics, water temperature is of little to no concern. The other one was in the Northsea in the winter. Water temperature alone is a big killer, but he was wearing appropriate clothing (survival suit) that helped too.

Originally Posted by hareshjethwani

Was wondering if Mercedes could provide a system where they could activate the air bags in the car during flooding which would help to keep the car afloat for at least a brief period.

I don’t think that will work for two reasons:

With all the air bags activated and inflated and not deflating, all the occupants will be effectively pinned to their seats and won’t be able to get out.

None of the air bags will provide any buoyancy until they actually become submerged, which means the cabin must be pretty much filled with water.

Jeroen

[azm@bpl]

Before Corona, I used to drive (solo), once a month from my home town Bhopal to assigned work area; South and Central Gujarat all the way upto Silvassa.
Before embarking on such journeys, preparations that I do were based on the assumption that anything can go wrong at any hour of the day (or night) at any location between point A & B. Hence some permanent fixtures in my car boot were:
1) water to last for 24 hours ( have been stuck in a 5 km jam for almost 12 hours on Rohtang mussoorie stretch)
2) chocolates (I am not diabetic: high sugar content for instant energy and lots of chana n dates)
3)basic tools
4) DC emergency light which can be directly attached to battery terminals
5) tow rope
6) tyre inflator
6) swiss knife

After going thru this thread, I will add 25meter long 10mm thick nylon rope which atleast I can use for self/assisted rescue.

All the items listed above have been put to use more than once by me. Luckily haven't taken my car to a swim yet, but you never know.

[androdev]

The rear seat base cushions are removable in this car - it's just a simple latch and two electric cables. Takes max 10 seconds. I don't know if it would be enough to stay afloat.

[Sumanyu17]

Going into an unknown water body to save a drowning person is very risky, the drowning person is very likely to drown the rescuer out of panic. The lifeguards have the basic rule of 'reach or throw, don't go'. Going in the water should be the last option and only if you are confident enough of your skill and strength.

[Guite]

Very tragic incident indeed. Its easy to pass judgements from the comfort of our homes. Swimming is very taxing physically. Unless you are a regular swimmer, covering that distance is going to be very tiresome. And then on the way back you have to support a full grown adult. Human chain - not likely in that deep water. Floatation devices - not likely to be present, barely present even in touristy lakes.

[fiestarry]

It is a clear case of careless driving that has sent the car into the water. It is sad to see the final moments of two people whose only mistake was reckless driving.
Unfortunately, Mercedes is getting undue bad publicity for a 10 year car being driven into a pool of water.
I think the title of the thread should say ' car' instead of Mercedes.

[amsidhu]

Very tragic and sad news. Assuming the car occupants had tried best to survive and climbed atop through the sunroof, I believe they could've been saved by bystanders.

It was a regular area interspersed with houses and roadside shops, some one in the crowd instead of making a video could have managed to throw a rope attached to a bamboo/pole or a spare tyre /tube flung across to this couple.

Or least someone should have tried to swim. A try was definitely worth here.

Feel sorry for the departed souls.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

Unfortunately, Mercedes is getting undue bad publicity for a 10 year car being driven into a pool of water.
I think the title of the thread should say ' car' instead of Mercedes.

The positive side and good publicity is that the the sun roof of sinking Mercedes functioned and helped the passengers to get out of the drowning car.