Totalled Chevrolet Forester

Xtreme Torque · 28th February 2006, 03:39

Hey guys, had gone down to the General Motors workshop in Delhi for some touchup work on my friend's Lancer yesterday. The person incharge there, Mr. Subhash, is a good friend of mine. He was the one attending to my friend when a tow truck rolled in with something under wraps. Was very curious to know what, but it's against the rules and regulations of the workshop to let an unauthorized person touch some vehicle or tamper with it. See the pics first, will update you on the details in my next post.

Xtreme Torque · 28th February 2006, 04:15

Upon enquiring further, I came to know that the car belonged to a certain person in Ghaziabad and he was going with his family to Nainital when the accident happened. There were about 6 people in the car. The time was about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. The person was driving at about 100 - 110 when all of a sudden, he hit the central divider and the SUV overturned. It took about two and a half turns and came a a rest at the extreme corner of the road, with half the portion over a ditch. What the horrfying fact was, none of the occupants were wearing a seatbelt. Look at the second image from the top, you will see BLOOD. There was also lots of blood on the roof, on the carpets and on the back seats of the SUV. Man was I horrified. Upon further enquiry, i came to know that two of the thee children had perished on the spot. His wife had perished while on the way to the hospital and the man himself was in a coma. Nothing was known about the servant travelling with them. More details would only be known when the man came out of the coma. If you look at the seventh picture, you will see that the front windows have actually come out of theit sills. I guess that was due to the overturning and the flexing of the SUV's body. All the four wheels were bent in an awkward manner and all the alloy wheels were damaged. Three were broken so badly, signifying the severity of the impact et al, I could only shiver as to the fate of the occupants when the car was rolling. The roof was very badly dented and was almost on the verge of caving in. Sorry I could not get the pics of the roof, if I would have done so, the policemen there would have noticed. Have taken all the pics very discreetly and cautiously with nokia 7610, hence excuse me for the not so good picture quality. I was so shocked on seeing everything that could not even look at the car directly, it was so horrendus. Anyways, left the spot soon after that.
There were a couple of questions in my mind though.
a> Why didnt the airbags deploy? (was it because the seatbelts were not worn?)
b> How come the car rolled but some of the window glass were intact. I guess they should have broken.
c> Isn't the forester supposed to have a lower center of gravity than most suv's. Even then......?

Guys, please drive safe. This is all I can say. If the government has ever put it's mind to some conducive use, it's in the signboards, Better Late Than Never and the like. Please ensure that you are all buckled up and pay utmost attention to the road and the surroundings. May the souls of the children and the lady rest in peace.

From now to Eternity - Drive Safe, Drive Responsibly.

zzzehar · 28th February 2006, 05:50

Whoa Whoa Whoa ! such sad story !

Godfather · 28th February 2006, 07:59

There must be some malfunction with the airbags.. it does not matter if you wear the seatbelt or not.. the airbags will deploy if the collision if from the front.. its a sad story.. hope the souls rest in peace..

suman · 28th February 2006, 09:36

May their souls rest in peace.......again, a senseless incident & so many lives may have perhaps been saved with the use of seatbelts; why on earth do they take a chance!

There are more & more of these SUV incidents happening and I think it only shows that people somehow get the impression that once they climb into a SUV, they become indestructible........take care all our team-bhp SUV owners, the line is always thin between life & death.

Xtreme Torque, if they hit the central divider at high speed, the sheer impact would have made the car topple, its CG may not have really come into play.

adya33 · 28th February 2006, 10:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godfather

There must be some malfunction with the airbags.. it does not matter if you wear the seatbelt or not.. the airbags will deploy if the collision if from the front..

NO
IN many cars these days if occupants are not wearing seat belts air bags won't get deployed. airbags deploy at almost 200mph
imagine getting hit in a face at 200mph
it is for occupants safety

Quote:

How come the car rolled but some of the window glass were intact. I guess they should have broken.

If you look at the body parts surrounding intact glass you will see that body has not suffered heavy dents there.

What is bothering me is that how come driver didn't noticed road divider?

Godfather · 28th February 2006, 11:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by adya33

NO
IN many cars these days if occupants are not wearing seat belts air bags won't get deployed. airbags deploy at almost 200mph
imagine getting hit in a face at 200mph
it is for occupants safety

If you look at the body parts surrounding intact glass you will see that body has not suffered heavy dents there.

What is bothering me is that how come driver didn't noticed road divider?

I think you are mistaken.. Air bags will deploy even if the seatbelts are not worn. see the below link.
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edud...s/airbags.html

wearing the seatbelt only reduces the impact of you hitting the airbags at greater speeds during a head on collission as the airbags deploy at 250MPH in under 0.40 seconds.. if at that time you are not wearing the seatbelt and you are in a head on collission at eg: 100kmph then you are hitting the airbag which has just got inflated and will be like solid rock.. that means instant death bro..

Also
Airbags are designed to deploy in frontal and near frontal collisions which are comparable to hitting a solid barrier at approximately 10 to 14 miles per hour (mph). Roughly speaking, a 14 mph barrier collision is equivalent to striking a parked car of similar size across the full front of each vehicle at about 28 mph.
this is the link to the above

http://www.licensingoffice.com/Tips/Airbags.html

hope i have cleared your point..
take care

sandeepmdas · 28th February 2006, 11:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xtreme Torque

What the horrfying fact was, none of the occupants were wearing a seatbelt.

That is the beginning-and sadly, the end-of the story. They ended up without getting a second chance.

Guys, airbags, (whether they are depolyed or malfactioned is not a serious question HERE) are a not a guradian-angel solution. These are SRS - Supplemental Restraint Systems - and are not a substitute for the use of seatbelts. The lowly seatbelt is your first line of defence.

A very sad incident indeed. May their souls rest in peace.

normally_crazy · 28th February 2006, 12:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by adya33

What is bothering me is that how come driver didn't noticed road divider?

Adya , the conditions the roads are - im glaad he was driving on the road and not of it. Lack of Lighting can be the only cause of the driver not noticing the divider or maybe he was blinded by another vehicle with high beams from the opposite direction. we will never know but the fact is - again a BASIC MISTAKE has caused TRAGIC LOSS OF LIFE.

How many more mistakes and loss of life do these idiots who dont wear seatbelts want to see before they start ?

God bless their souls !

adya33 · 28th February 2006, 12:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godfather

I think you are mistaken.. Air bags will deploy even if the seatbelts are not worn. see the below link.
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edud...s/airbags.html

wearing the seatbelt only reduces the impact of you hitting the airbags at greater speeds during a head on collission as the airbags deploy at 250MPH in under 0.40 seconds.. if at that time you are not wearing the seatbelt and you are in a head on collission at eg: 100kmph then you are hitting the airbag which has just got inflated and will be like solid rock.. that means instant death bro..

Ok lets talk numbers now
if car is travelling at 100 kmph then obviously driver is also travelling at 100kmph
Now there is sudden deccelaration airbag gets deployed in 0.4 sec
now at 100kmph you are travelling at 27.7meters/second now in 0.4 seconds you travel 11.08 meters. In normal car steering is not 11 meters away. so even if airbag gets deployed you will hit it head on when its solid rock.

in bolded text you kinda prove my point

EDIT: we have gon offtopic. lets return to topic

WRXXX · 28th February 2006, 12:39

Lot of the cars (For example Skoda and the Forester) airbags won't deploy
if the seatbelts are not worn.

Also in Forester you get a huge beep if the driver seatbelt is not worn,
so I assume atleast the driver has worn seatbelt to get out of the irritating
beep.

Airbags will deploy upon frontal collision if the sensors detect it.
I don't know if aerobatics on the divider and ramps will activate it.
Really feel sorry for the family that lost their lives in this incident.

As stated before seatbelts will definitely be first line of defence.

Godfather · 28th February 2006, 12:41

Bro.. what i wanted to tell is that even though you are not wearing a seatbelt the airbags will deploy.. and wearing a seatbelt will only reduce the impact on the passenger... thats all..

yeah.. lets return to the topic here..

Xtreme Torque · 28th February 2006, 12:42

Man, the whole incident itself was so tragic that it has left me at a loss of words. There was so much blood around that i can still feel the phantom smell everytime i'm driving.

satish_appasani · 28th February 2006, 13:17

How many road dividers did you guys see with refelectors? In Hyderabad I hardly see any. And if you are blinded by the hi-beam of the vehicle in the opposite side, 100% you won't see the divider.

v12 · 28th February 2006, 13:38

Airbags would have deployed even if the seat belts were not worn. Even if the airbag had deployed, it would have been fatal. The driver would have broken his neck.

Also the airbags deploy only when the airbags sensors are hit on impact. The airbag must have not deployed since the impact was not head-on. Most of the impact has been on the lower end of the car. And the sensors would normally be on the front bumper which is not damaged.

28th February 2006, 03:39	#1
Xtreme Torque BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 92 Thanked: 31 Times	Totalled Chevrolet Forester Hey guys, had gone down to the General Motors workshop in Delhi for some touchup work on my friend's Lancer yesterday. The person incharge there, Mr. Subhash, is a good friend of mine. He was the one attending to my friend when a tow truck rolled in with something under wraps. Was very curious to know what, but it's against the rules and regulations of the workshop to let an unauthorized person touch some vehicle or tamper with it. See the pics first, will update you on the details in my next post. Last edited by Rudra Sen : 28th February 2006 at 13:07.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 04:15	#2
Xtreme Torque BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 92 Thanked: 31 Times	Upon enquiring further, I came to know that the car belonged to a certain person in Ghaziabad and he was going with his family to Nainital when the accident happened. There were about 6 people in the car. The time was about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. The person was driving at about 100 - 110 when all of a sudden, he hit the central divider and the SUV overturned. It took about two and a half turns and came a a rest at the extreme corner of the road, with half the portion over a ditch. What the horrfying fact was, none of the occupants were wearing a seatbelt. Look at the second image from the top, you will see BLOOD. There was also lots of blood on the roof, on the carpets and on the back seats of the SUV. Man was I horrified. Upon further enquiry, i came to know that two of the thee children had perished on the spot. His wife had perished while on the way to the hospital and the man himself was in a coma. Nothing was known about the servant travelling with them. More details would only be known when the man came out of the coma. If you look at the seventh picture, you will see that the front windows have actually come out of theit sills. I guess that was due to the overturning and the flexing of the SUV's body. All the four wheels were bent in an awkward manner and all the alloy wheels were damaged. Three were broken so badly, signifying the severity of the impact et al, I could only shiver as to the fate of the occupants when the car was rolling. The roof was very badly dented and was almost on the verge of caving in. Sorry I could not get the pics of the roof, if I would have done so, the policemen there would have noticed. Have taken all the pics very discreetly and cautiously with nokia 7610, hence excuse me for the not so good picture quality. I was so shocked on seeing everything that could not even look at the car directly, it was so horrendus. Anyways, left the spot soon after that. There were a couple of questions in my mind though. a> Why didnt the airbags deploy? (was it because the seatbelts were not worn?) b> How come the car rolled but some of the window glass were intact. I guess they should have broken. c> Isn't the forester supposed to have a lower center of gravity than most suv's. Even then......? Guys, please drive safe. This is all I can say. If the government has ever put it's mind to some conducive use, it's in the signboards, Better Late Than Never and the like. Please ensure that you are all buckled up and pay utmost attention to the road and the surroundings. May the souls of the children and the lady rest in peace. From now to Eternity - Drive Safe, Drive Responsibly.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 05:50	#3
zzzehar BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Gurugram Posts: 277 Thanked: 73 Times	Whoa Whoa Whoa ! such sad story !
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 07:59	#4
Godfather Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bangalore / Atlanta Posts: 1,387 Thanked: 70 Times View My Garage	There must be some malfunction with the airbags.. it does not matter if you wear the seatbelt or not.. the airbags will deploy if the collision if from the front.. its a sad story.. hope the souls rest in peace..
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 09:36	#5
suman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Kolkata Posts: 4,589 Thanked: 279 Times View My Garage	May their souls rest in peace.......again, a senseless incident & so many lives may have perhaps been saved with the use of seatbelts; why on earth do they take a chance! There are more & more of these SUV incidents happening and I think it only shows that people somehow get the impression that once they climb into a SUV, they become indestructible........take care all our team-bhp SUV owners, the line is always thin between life & death. Xtreme Torque, if they hit the central divider at high speed, the sheer impact would have made the car topple, its CG may not have really come into play.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 12:39	#11
WRXXX BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: bangalore Posts: 290 Thanked: 388 Times View My Garage	Lot of the cars (For example Skoda and the Forester) airbags won't deploy if the seatbelts are not worn. Also in Forester you get a huge beep if the driver seatbelt is not worn, so I assume atleast the driver has worn seatbelt to get out of the irritating beep. Airbags will deploy upon frontal collision if the sensors detect it. I don't know if aerobatics on the divider and ramps will activate it. Really feel sorry for the family that lost their lives in this incident. As stated before seatbelts will definitely be first line of defence.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 12:41	#12
Godfather Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bangalore / Atlanta Posts: 1,387 Thanked: 70 Times View My Garage	Bro.. what i wanted to tell is that even though you are not wearing a seatbelt the airbags will deploy.. and wearing a seatbelt will only reduce the impact on the passenger... thats all.. yeah.. lets return to the topic here..
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 12:42	#13
Xtreme Torque BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 92 Thanked: 31 Times	Man, the whole incident itself was so tragic that it has left me at a loss of words. There was so much blood around that i can still feel the phantom smell everytime i'm driving.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 13:17	#14
satish_appasani Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 1,112 Thanked: 104 Times View My Garage	How many road dividers did you guys see with refelectors? In Hyderabad I hardly see any. And if you are blinded by the hi-beam of the vehicle in the opposite side, 100% you won't see the divider.
	() Thanks

28th February 2006, 13:38	#15
v12 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 6,739 Thanked: 7,213 Times View My Garage	Airbags would have deployed even if the seat belts were not worn. Even if the airbag had deployed, it would have been fatal. The driver would have broken his neck. Also the airbags deploy only when the airbags sensors are hit on impact. The airbag must have not deployed since the impact was not head-on. Most of the impact has been on the lower end of the car. And the sensors would normally be on the front bumper which is not damaged. Last edited by v12 : 28th February 2006 at 13:40.
	() Thanks