Team-BHP - A car accident, a life lost

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radha Shelat (Post 2196843)

This happened on Mumbai-Pune highway, near Bhatan tunnel. The time was around 5.45 pm. I have many pictures of the car after the accident, I could post some of them if that helps.

It feels that the we should do a follow up and not let it go. A precious life lost for no special reason.

Thanks and appreciate your inputs

--radha shelat

Request you to please post any pics that you may have, that will enable people to give better suggestions. Currently most posts are speculations on what may have happened, causes etc.

I appreciate your spirit to pursue this matter(of a (perhaps) faulty car), in spite of the great personal loss you have endured.

I feel very sorry for your loss. I want to provide some insight into your question about the vehicle structure to withstand loads.

Below is what you have posted in ur thread.

'The question I have is - should the car side and roof have collapsed in the manner it did for an SUV class vehicle. There did not seem to be any support for the roof and it just collapsed with the impact. Is there merit in this to take it up with the manufacturer. I need some advise before I take call on pursuing this matter.'

I have been designing and developing automotive body structures to meet US safety standards for a while now and here in USA there is a federal standard for roof crush (FMVSS 216) which requires structure to withstand 1.5 times the weight of the car, which simulates a rollover situation that is a common occurrence. Hyundai Tucson is also available in the USA and would expect to withstand this load requirements. But its a common practice for car companies to reduce content/parts in countries that don't have these safety requirements. This load requirement is usually met using a high strength steel reinforcement (most times produced using hot stamping process) added inside B-pillar which is an additional cost. I highly doubt this reinforcement would have been removed since Tucson sold in India is an imported vehicle and its less hassle to leave it in, since its an expensive vehicle in Indian market.

Given all these, I would think you might not be able to legally challenge Hyundai in India since there is no such safety standards i am aware of, though i would suggest you check this. Only hope is, Hyundai might come to the table to discuss to show that they are a responsible company which cares about its customers.

I hope this provides some insight and feel free to reply if you need further details.

PS: Pictures would help a lot to really understand