[Govardhansupra]

Sorry to hear about the accident and happy to hear about your physical health.
Could you please follow up on the service costs and insurance details? Is the driver the owner of the car?

[anjan_c2007]

A very nightmarish incident ! The fact is that you all emerged with very less injuries and the very fact that you all decided to continue your holiday trip is quite enthusing. Yes, as you rightly say, the collision was at a low speed or else one can comprehend the damage had it been a three figure speed. The engine bay crumple zone had reached its maximum limits and next it would have transgressed into the passenger cabin, had the impact been greater.

Very sadly, they have made airbags compulsory for all cars sold in India wef July 2019 (your incident is from May 2018), but only one on the driver's side. Hence all such taxis that are usually the base variants are equipped with one air bag. That's a travel hazard we may all note, when we engage taxis for travel.

[na_agrawal]

I see this thread has taken a new turn!!

Originally Posted by chiranjitp

Closeup of the steering wheel, I am seeing airbag written on it:

Dashboard, the red warning sticker is regarding airbags:

I never zoomed-in to check the airbag availability/presence indications in these pics, since we all came out alive and didn't bother to discuss with family members for a very long time. Only until the lockdown happened.

Originally Posted by vvivek85

On the related note regarding Airbags not deployed, was the driver belted? If yes, then it’s even more shocking from a reputed car manufacturer.

Thanks vvivek85. Yes, both I and the driver were belted when we hit the highway. Can't say for the driver at the time of impact as I dozed off just minutes earlier.

Originally Posted by seedyk

Glad these guys made out with minor injuries. I had a similar accident in a swift dzire in mumbai city itself in the wee hours and i was belted in the back seat (i always belt up in whichever seat i am). Trust me, if not for the seat belt, my head wouldn't have been in the same shape that it is.

Thanks and glad to hear that you came out unhurt, courtesy SEATBELTS.

Originally Posted by daredemon

Hi na_agrawal,
Glad to know that you & your friends came out alive that day with such a scary experience. Did you manage to find out with the driver what exactly happened.
Where did he exactly crash the car ? Seeing the state of the car, i am only assuming that he must have been over speeding once you snoozed off & then lost control.

Yes daredemon, we went straight into a truck that fled the scene. I don't think we can classify 80kmph as overspeeding . Cab had a speed limiter installed. In one of the pics, you can even see the 80kmph sticker on it's windshield.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

A very nightmarish incident ! The fact is that you all emerged with very less injuries and the very fact that you all decided to continue your holiday trip is quite enthusing. Yes, as you rightly say, the collision was at a low speed or else one can comprehend the damage had it been a three figure speed. The engine bay crumple zone had reached its maximum limits and next it would have transgressed into the passenger cabin, had the impact been greater.

Yeah Anjan_c2007. It was the 'fresh-graduates' boiling blood and that didn't stop us from putting an end on our marvellous trip.

[Moto_Hill]

Another reminder of the importance of seat belts. Rule of speed limits in cabs makes perfect sense as the drivers are mostly over worked and there are high chances of them being drowsy while driving. Always check on your taxi driver if he's sleepy. Once I was traveling with my family to Delhi to catch an early morning flight. I was sitting at the front and noticed driver was sleepy. I asked if he was alright and if he'd slept well last night. He replied with a yes and gave expression that it was normal for him. Minutes later I was horrified to see him close his eyes briefly. That was it, I asked him to pull over at a restaurant and take an hour long nap while we had our breakfast.

Glad that you all came out safe and continued your trip.

[saur95]

Glad to hear that the OP is safe. Even better that he received a rare 6 airbag Ecosport from Zoomcar which I'm sure bolstered confidence.

From the looks of it, it looks like the car collided against the underrun protection of the truck.

Although the front bumper has come off, it has not suffered any deformation. Most of the impact has been at the level of the headlamp on the LH side of the vehicle, including the fender. Even contents of the engine bay only on the LH side have been displaced (look at the battery).

The sensor(s) are usually located behind the front bumper around or just outside the number plate area and airbag inflation depends on the longitudinal (along the length of the car) component of force that has acted on it. Underruns usually don't trigger airbags but I won't go on further as I'm not an expert on the subject matter and I'd be speculating here.

I believe we have some members here who can help us understand better.

Originally Posted by GTO

What is it with Toyotas & the airbags not deploying?

I definitely don't mean to play devil's advocate here but I looked into a few of these cases here and they have other factors thrown into the mix like a bullbar, rollovers, doubts on seat belt usage, odd crash angle etc.

But one genuine case is one too many when it comes to customer safety and I hope that more customers push for an investigation from automakers.

Originally Posted by akash_v12

2. This car might be a victim of the Takata Airbag issue (I’m not very sure as I don’t know which Toyota’s it affects and if the Etios was included or not).

Originally Posted by DicKy

http://https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/181296-toyota-internationally-recalls-etios-faulty-airbags-takata-india-next.html (Toyota internationally recalls the Etios for faulty airbags (Takata). India next?)


Internationally the Etios was recalled for the Takata recall, but the Etios in India has the airbags/pretensioners from Tokai Rikai Minda.

FYI The Takata airbag issue is not related to airbags not deploying and the recall was issued as they found that metal fragments are ejected at high velocity during inflation causing the airbag to explode and also cause death or injury to passengers.

[DrCar]

Looking at the car, the model seems to be of 2014 or 2015 year. The chrome application around the front Toyota logo suggests that.

I personally own a diesel Etios of 2013 make, base GD variant, and it has ABS and dual airbags as standard even in the base variant then.

Though I am not an expert in how airbags function, I would like to know whether driver was using seatbelts?
If not, then the reason for airbag not deploying can be explained.

But looking at the images, it seems the car might have taken the hit on the left side while trying to overtake a truck which could be in the middle lane. The car and the truck would both be in the middle lane and the driver might have tried to switch to the fast lane while overtaking the truck and might had judgmental errors while doing so.
Car has taken a major hit on the lateral side of left portion of the car which could also explain about the airbags not deploying.

Another question I would like to ask to all the expert forum members is whether speed limiter kicking off causes drivers to panic and affect their judgments while overtaking?

Speculations aside, it is glad that you all came out safely.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by DrCar

Car has taken a major hit on the lateral side of left portion of the car which could also explain about the airbags not deploying.

Another question I would like to ask to all the expert forum members is whether speed limiter kicking off causes drivers to panic and affect their judgments while overtaking?

Purely a speculation: The engine compartment doesn't seem as badly impacted as the Hood, windshield, and Dash. Could it be due to lack of rear crash guard on the truck that made the point of impact on the higher side for the airbag sensor to not deploy?

Regarding the speed limiter: It may irk you a few times initially, but over time you get used to it & adapt driving accordingly. Plus, the Etios D was not a powerful car in the first place - most drivers would anyways plan their highway overtaking accordingly - especially with a full load of passengers + luggage.

[samee_arian]

This must have been one harrowing experience and the way you explained it, seems your going to sleep and reclining the seat also saved you from impact to an extent. Glad that you guys walked out without severe injuries. You guys are a gutsy lot I should say, after all this you guys decided to continue with Zoom car. I hope you had a good trip. Looking forward to hearing from you about the experience.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by na_agrawal

Now we all 4 started ringing to nearby emergency services along with an ambulance, tow truck and Toyota Emergency services, or whatever they call it in their official terms. I was frustrated and angered when not even a single one of them answered. Heck! Not even 108 Ambulance. I refrained from calling in on my family/parents/Jaipur Friends at this hour when nothing unfortunate had happened and we were all capable of handling the situation sooner or later. Multiple cars stopped, inquired about the incident, and the condition of passengers/driver, but none, NONE of them offered a single piece of as little help as ‘water’. Forget hospital! Talk about INDIA SUPERPOWER 2020! Rants aside, I remembered a toll plaza which we had crossed just minutes earlier.

From what I take, the three most important things which played a major role in saving all of us -

1. The swapping of MS Dzire to Toyota Etios. Whatever be the reason for swapping, but God had some other plans written.
2. The 80kmph limiter in cabs. Had it been a private vehicle, it wouldn’t have been a crash at 2-digit speeds.
3. This goes on without mentioning. SEATBELTS! Please wear them, at all times. I have tested and experienced it; believe me! you don’t want to be on the same page as me.

Now, upon reaching Delhi, we debated whether to continue our road trip for the next 8 days which had to be done via a pre-booked zoom car and the only drivers would be me and one more friend who is supposed to be picked up tonight from Delhi Airport. Since we all were safe physically, it was me who had the veto power to either continuing or canceling it as the accident could have haywire my brain and it was more important to be mentally free from it. But as any other car enthusiast might agree with me, all it takes is a firm grip on the wheel and there we go zooming past our past! So the next day -

Attachment 2029661

A spanking new Ecosport Titanium + variant ready for us. Just 600 km on the odometer! I was surprised at Zoomcar.

This will be an altogether a new travelogue in itself one day!

Attachment 2029662

Cheers,
NA

Thankfully you wore a seatbelt and none of you were seriously injured. I can totally relate to bystanders just watching at our pitiful condition after the accident and none of them even come close to help us if we meet with an accident. For your zeal to continue with the trip further after the trauma of accident, kudos to that!

I've faced a similar accident myself 5 years ago and I had to call up the ambulance myself and park my bike to the side of the road. Nobody offered even to call the ambulance nor provide water, all were just watching us standing as it is.

From that accident experience, I always make it a point to offer help to people whenever I see an accident which had taken place when I am travelling somewhere.

Hopefully, someday the general public realize that there's something called as good Samaritan law and people offer to help accident victims (at least calling the ambulance or police is sufficient).

[Raghu M]

Glad that you all made it out safely. Like you mentioned, seat belts definitely save lives. I was involved in a serious accident and came out without a scratch, I can understand what you are going through. One question, if you are aware, can you share the details of the insurance claim on this one? Looking at the pictures, am sure the service center would recommend a total loss.

[Storm2.0]

I have traveled in an Etios Cab in Bangalore and Gujarat which had these 80kmph speed governer stickers but both these cars happily cruised at 100 kmph on the highway. I verified the speed using GPS based speedo on mobile too.

[The Rationalist]

Maybe Toyota's airbags are just to make you feel good. The number of Toyota cars and SUV's not deploying airbags doesn't look to be a random occurrence. Till date Toyota has only have their Etios crash tested and it scored 4*, so this incident doesn't fit in also. Toyota has been unusually quite about the cases that have been mentioned in the different threads. Their explanations didn't seem convincing.

[varoon9999]

There could be a possibility that in previous crash (if any) the air-bags were deployed and the air-bag module must have been removed and a used/refurbished dashboard and steering has been placed just to make it look like a genuine non-accidental car.

This is the scenario when you pick up a lemon from used car market, I personally have seen such cases in Delhi NCR. The precision work on used dashboard and steering is so meticulous you can't make out, if its for real or just a refurbished one.

Even the dashboard light from the MID is masked so exquisitely that it is really hard to find out, until an OBD scanner is plonked-in.

More so, used cars are most sought after in commercial vehicle arena.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Purely a speculation: The engine compartment doesn't seem as badly impacted as the Hood, windshield, and Dash. Could it be due to lack of rear crash guard on the truck that made the point of impact on the higher side for the airbag sensor to not deploy?

The first time I started hearing of Toyota airbags not deploying, I started to think along lines like these too. But as GTO's post shows, it happens way too often with Toyotas compared to other brands.

Maybe it's just a very weird coincidence but the more likely explanation is that there's something wrong with their airbag system across all models.

[MMV]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Maybe it's just a very weird coincidence but the more likely explanation is that there's something wrong with their airbag system across all models.

As an Etios GSP variant (which I chose only coz of dual airbags prior to airbags becoming standard on all Etios variants) owner, its a worrisome point if airbag deployment had actually failed. I would rather like to BELIEVE the explanation provided by other members that airbag wouldn't have been restored after a previous accident.

Note the post from GTO on multiple instances of airbag failure in Toyotas, this is a serious concern, though I know few people who swear by Toyota airbags based on their personal experience. In this context, would like to know if there is a provision in Motor Vehicles Act 2019, that provides for specific check to be made on reasons for non-deployment of airbag during accidents, may be insurers will be looking at this. These checks should be made mandatory part of all road accident investigation reports, but with only driver airbag mandatory by law, doubt if such provision exists.