[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

1. I think you have the idea of third party insurance wrong. Here you are the first party, and the girl - 2nd party. Third party means any other person/object who got hit/damaged, which is not in your case. Nothing to be done with regards to 3rd party insurance in this case.

Is it? It thought third party is any one other than the insurer and insured? And I think I am not wrong :P

[figo_mba]

Sorry to hear about your issue man... But good that none involved in the ordeal were hurt.

I have not faced any issue with the brakes till date but I have seen a white figo once in the service center and when I inquired about it (since it was a brand new car) the guy said that there was an automatic brake lock on the left tire and the car hit the divider. They were waiting for the Ford Engineers to confirm this.

PS:I guess the Ford guys could not confirm. The owner said he would not pay for the repairs since it was a fault with the car. Argument went on till the *** guys said they would start charging demurrage charges for keeping the car in the premises.

[Saanil]

Sorry to hear about the entire incident. I can only imagine what you must be going through now. Sometimes even though we do not intend to do these things, they happen. Anybody in such a situation might have gone nervous. As far as the Figo problem is concerned I seriously have no clue how such a thing occurred. I do not even know whose fault it is. I think this is a situation where it is nobody’s fault. I know she should have kept sufficient distance between herself and your car; she probably could not react fast enough to brake soon. Really appreciate you taking the girl to the hospital and towing her bike to her house. I hope she was wearing a helmet!

Do not worry man – Everything will be alright. Just deal with this situation and get out of it. Try to speak to her and explain your situation too. I think people here have given you good suggestions. Please keep us posted about whatever happens regarding this. Can some one please shed more light on third party insurance - I am myself confused regarding this.

My Learning from this: Always drive with utmost care in India. Everyone knows it is not the ideal place to drive. People have always made fun of me that I drive too slowly and that I am scared of doing high speeds - Sometimes I feel like punching them in the faces for telling me to drive fast. Following rules is considered a sign of weakness here! I have been frustrated with people telling me that I am too cautious while driving. Driving in India is less about driving and more about being careful.

[drpullockaran]

A real far fetched possibility is that the FORD service guys tampered with your booster sensitivity. Have a look into it. There is an adjuster that releases the vacuum after you release the brakes or should I say it alters the sensitivity of the brake assembly.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Is it? It thought third party is any one other than the insurer and insured? And I think I am not wrong :P

lol.

That's what I used to think - but was told this by the VW (Bhandari) Accident /Claim division head, when I went for a claim on my car last week. Did argue with him, but he was quite resolute on that.


Edit : To the OP - Please ignore my point on 3rd party insurance - might be wrong there. Consult with your insurance company - they should give you the correct answer.

[shekhar_gogoi]

Sorry to hear about accident mate. Well I am not too sure about either the TPI or the Figo brake issue. But 1 thing for sure is that what you did after the accident, taking the girl to the hospital and getting the bike picked up, is commendable. Am saying this because I've seen how most of the 2 wheelers are ridden in hyderabad.
And about someone rear-ending you, well whatever the reason be it, as long as you brake lights are working, it's the fault of the one behind you. Had it been that your brake lights are not working then it would have been partly your fault. Whatever you have done is more than enough in my opinion.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by fedexp

Thank you for your words of consolation.

For me its more of a question of morals now. When an industrialist's Verna hit my car from rear a few months ago, it cost me close to 6k and lot of time. He played nicely during the accident scene and later he was like 'please go to the police' - so I was basically conned. I don't want to do the same thing here. I know how bad one would feel about it, coz I have gone through it myself. However, I am not really sure if I am being extra nice if I am spending so much money for the bike repair.

Fedexp, sorry to hear about the accident. Its indeed commendable that you took the girl to a hospital and admitted that your car did break abnormally, which means it really is'nt her fault, even though she rear ended you. I know lots of people have advised you to refuse to own up to the accident, especially since she does not have/cannot locate her DL and her insurance has expired.

But you already know all this. The reason you're really seeking advice is to do the morally correct thing here. And I think you know that it really was a fault in the car, and not the girls fault, and in this scenario the morally correct thing would be to make amends by fairly compensating her for her damage. If you cannot afford it right now, you can claim insurance and pay the higher premium due to loss of no claim bonus at a later date, or work out some mutually acceptable solution with the girl.

Wish you all the best, and hope you have many miles of safe driving in the future.

Oh by the way, do check the car thoroughly, it does seem to have a few loose ends.

[fedexp]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

lol.. they just passed the ball into your court buddy.

Do what your moral side allows, and nothing more.

Morally, I think I have done enough so far. May be another 1k out of pocket, other than that nothing much I guess.

Originally Posted by humyum

Did you pass a water of puddle on the way ? Or was this one of your few first brake application's for the day ?

If either of the above, then yes sometimes the brake do grab during either of the above conditions. In my car, the first couple of brake applications are like hitting a wall. Instantly stops with just a minor pedal application.

Try this out, go to an empty stretch and try braking again and see what happens.

I did a good 400kms in the city after the second free service. However, this flyover down slope was the first time I took, most of the time I was driving on the city roads / outer ring road of Hyderabad. I don't know if its the slope kind of a road that caused this. I've tried breaking on an empty stretch post the accident - It was fine.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

My inputs regarding the accident issue, have no clarity on the figo brake aspect so won't comment on it



Go through the above 4 points - all your statements - that should clear your own thoughts. Clearly you are already at a greater loss (unless you have a zero dep insurance, that windshield & other damages is going to burn a hole in your pocket) than the girl & her scooty damages.

I think you need to take a back seat and let the girl's family accept her faults in this accident.

Yes. I think you are correct. I should take a back seat I guess - I did my part. I have a comprehensive cover - I think glass will be 100% covered, but the plastic bumper if anything is going to cost me a min of 2k. The boot cover will be replaced I guess - I guess it could cost me about 5k post insurance claim approval.

1. I think you have the idea of third party insurance wrong. Here you are the first party, and the girl - 2nd party. Third party means any other person/object who got hit/damaged, which is not in your case. Nothing to be done with regards to 3rd party insurance in this case.
2. You will have to claim insurance (Comprehensive/Zero Dep) for your own car damage, and yes that would hit your No claim bonus (NCB) discount for the premium next year. Anyway, I doubt if the damage would be lesser than the discount in your next year's premium, but do the calculations & decide.
3. You took her to an hospital, you paid her medical fees; you even towed her bike to the service center. IMO, that is more than enough.
4. Seriously, getting into an accident with a girl involved as the other party - will always mean that you are at fault. In a lot of cases, the situation turns ugly at the scene (for the guy). So be happy - what you did in that situation was quite correct. Going ahead, you can take a step back & let her family handle it on its own.

Thanks for clarifying - i was under the impression that the girl is third party.

Awesome. That's three brownie points for you - legally she should not be driving without an valid insurance & a DL (irrespective of what she says, she doesn't have it, right?). No wonder her brother doesn't want the police involved.

My suggestion - make it clear that whatever you did so far was more than enough. If his brother gets nasty, make it clear to him that your car damage is going to be more than her scooty damage. Drop in a hint about the legal aspect of expired insurance & "lost" DL, and he should get the idea.

Also you know about your (suspected) figo brake problem, not they. Make your stand clear on that - don't ever mention about it in discussions with them. Most important of all, never get cocky - I would suggest you to be nice to them in all the discussions - that generally resolves most fights/negotiations.

And chill, sh$t happens.

Thanks for your advice. I meeting the brother on Tuesday, showing him the car and I am going to tell him that I can spare another 1000 at the max - just out of good will.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Is it possible that during the service the Ford people actually did brake bleeding or whatever and the brakes became more sensitive, and also you braked according to how you used to brake earlier, but this time owing to the brakes getting fixed the car stopped much faster? Seems far fetched I know.

I braked, indeed just like how I always brake. I am not sure if they screwed it up during service - I asked them to tighten the brakes , but they never mentioned about it post service. I am not ruling out the fact that I might have accidentally stepped on the brake instead of the accelerator - even though it is pretty far fetched - but, I am not sure of any way to confirm this.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

That's what I used to think - but was told this by the VW (Bhandari) Accident /Claim division head, when I went for a claim on my car last week. Did argue with him, but he was quite resolute on that.

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Is it? It thought third party is any one other than the insurer and insured? And I think I am not wrong :P

Anil is right. In this case, the Scooty rider is the 3rd party (from the OP's point of view).

[fedexp]

ok.. here's a quick update on things..

1) Ford service says that the brakes seem to be fine. I was taken on a road test and the service person braked hard - well it all went fine, but the way the car braked on the flyover - he wasn't able to replicate that, no matter how he braked. The booster is fine, if anything they said they are going to take a clean look at the brakes, rotors and boosters before insurance approval happens.
2) Since the scooty driver doesn't have a DL and insurance - I've told her that I cannot pay 50% of the damage, like they want me to. I said, I might contribute a bit (1-2k), provided I don't pay too much out of my pocket for my car post insurance.

Out of context: I was driving in my old Santro today morning, a few hours ago on the Narsingi -> Langar hauz road. A scorpio with "Govt Vehicle" board cuts into the main road from a near by street. I was atleast 30 feet away and I started honking indicating that I am coming and he needs to stop coz he has to give me way. But the scorpio driver pays no heed to it, I immediately slowed down, overtook him, stopped my vehicle. He stops right next to him. I was super pissed.
I ask "Horn sunai nahi deta aap ko?"
A 45 year old man, sporting a rayban and a taqiyah, in the driver's seat replies, " Aap ki kya governer ki gaadi hei?"
It only pissed me more. I say, " Main road pei joh gaadi chalti hei usko way dena aap ka farz banta hei. Driving license hone sei kuch nahi hota, such seekho".
While I was getting increasing frustrated, he replies with a very cool head. "Haan. Aap ki gaadi governer ki gaadi hei? Nahi maloom mereko ye rules. Nahi hei mere paas drivers license. Kya karte?"
I didn't see any point in arguing with a thick head like this one, who knows he's made a mistake and wants to talk crap and make his way out of it. I could see myself getting down and picking up a fight, which I didn't want, so I finished the argument there and drove away.

This is the kind of drivers we have in Hyderabad - well, I am sure there are a lot of people like these in India - all the more reasons for me to get out of India. (I am sorry if that upset patriotic people on this forum - I am equally proud of my country's culture and values, but I don't want to die a dog's death on one of these small roads in a small car - nor do I want my next generation to suffer).

[avinaush]

My Figo has completed 17k km in 1 year. As far as braking is concerned,the problem which i'd been facing is that at high speeds on slippery roads and also on normal roads there is no proper resistance from the braking system. The brake lining seems to be weak and doesn't put the vehicle to sudden halt.

This happend last week when I went to one Village in the suburb of Chennai where the roads are not laid properly. It was a gravel road with a speed breaker which was un-expected. The car was at 40kmph and when I applied the breaks there was some noise in the lining which I could feel on the pedal, so I lowered the gear suddenly to slow down.

Figos brakes are totally dangerous at high speeds especially during emergency braking!

[fedexp]

Originally Posted by avinaush

My Figo has completed 17k km in 1 year. As far as braking is concerned,the problem which i'd been facing is that at high speeds on slippery roads and also on normal roads there is no proper resistance from the braking system. The brake lining seems to be weak and doesn't put the vehicle to sudden halt.

This happend last week when I went to one Village in the suburb of Chennai where the roads are not laid properly. It was a gravel road with a speed breaker which was un-expected. The car was at 40kmph and when I applied the breaks there was some noise in the lining which I could feel on the pedal, so I lowered the gear suddenly to slow down.

Figos brakes are totally dangerous at high speeds especially during emergency braking!

I agree with you - Figo doesn't brake well at high speeds. I have always found it tough to break at speeds in excess of 90kmph - it just doesn't feel like you are braking in time.

[Max]

Originally Posted by fedexp

I had no clue. I have driven 10k kms so far right in the city and the way the car stopped, like I pulled the handbrake or something - from 60 to 0 - and before I could figure out what was wrong, it was too late for the lady on a scooty right behind my car.
She crashed hard and I could see her in my rear view mirror - she slammed hard into my rear windshield and it shattered to bits.

fedexp, I think you should pay girl for repairs to her bike or at least 50% because it was problem in your car and technically you shouldn't suddenly stop your car. You are at fault, you just can not suddenly stop your car on high speed road and expect others to break that fast specially two wheeler. 2 wheelers like scuity type don't have that kind of breaking power. Keep your self on her situation and decide. Yeah, you can act like a troll and don't pay her anything but again its you who don't want to stay in India because of such kind of attitude people have here. Don't be one of them.

[fedexp]

Originally Posted by Max

fedexp, I think you should pay girl for repairs to her bike or at least 50% because it was problem in your car and technically you shouldn't suddenly stop your car. You are at fault, you just can not suddenly stop your car on high speed road and expect others to break that fast specially two wheeler. 2 wheelers like scuity type don't have that kind of breaking power. Keep your self on her situation and decide. Yeah, you can act like a troll and don't pay her anything but again its you who don't want to stay in India because of such kind of attitude people have here. Don't be one of them.

Appreciate your feedback. Sure I'm at fault for probably breaking like that, but it turned out that the girl didn't have any sort of insurance or DL (she lied about losing it in the scene of the accident). I put myself in her shoes and I figured that I for one would never drive a vehicle without permit - so I've decided not to pay her anything.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by humyum

Or was this one of your few first brake application's for the day ?

Why does this happen? even i face this daily in my Dzire. The first couple of brakes stops the car instantly. Later it comes to the normal mode.