[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by Ton Ami

So Mercedes or Maruti, an accident is an accident. All accidents must be thoroughly probed without any biases or prejudice.

I do agree that the build quality wouldn't have done much difference in this instance for the poor couple because of their fatal mistake of carrying petrol under the driver's seat.

On the Mercedes' poor show on Indian roads, India is more suited for the hardy Landcruisers than the fast sedans.

But, We have been rightly focusing on putting the spotlight on the flimsiness of Maruti cars because they are offering the same car with more features and better build(4 stars, as against 0 starts for the Indian version! - link) with far better features at a lower price, yes lower price in Europe. Imagine manufacturing a better car and shipping it 11,000 nautical miles and still be able to price it lower than what trash they were peddling us! In addition to that, they had been championing against the implementation of crash testing for cars sold in India too (link) when our country is seeing lakhs of deaths from road accidents!

They are the main reason behind the lower safety standards of cars in our country and their Brezza being able to score a 4 - star is a direct positive result of this focus they have been receiving.

[Joeboy]

I have an Spresso VXI manual which is 1 yr old and has done only 1200kms. Already the ac is not cooling well after the 3rd free service and I am having problems with the clutch noise when releasing it. I regret buying this car as I feel it is not a properly designed car by Maruti. Now this fire issue which killed the couples worries me. It is always better to buy proven cars which is in the market for a long time rather than go for unproven cars like the spresso. I never wanted to buy his car but then I had to as my wife insisted on it and now even she regrets buying it because of the problems with the car,

[dsuman]

Disclaimer: I am not blaming anyone in my Post.

RIP to the poor souls. They must have been happy about a new life coming into their Home. Alas fate had something else in store for them.

This happened with me around 2004 or so. I used to own a Maruti 800 which had been accessorized quite a bit including Fancy Horns and Tuners. One day I was cleaning the Dashboard when I noticed smoke from under the dashboard. Upon bending over to check I noticed that the Horn Wire (+ve Wire the Red one) was touching the Steering Column which is pure iron. There were sparks as well but no Fire. Luckily there was nothing else close to it to convert the spark into fire. Mind you the Key was OFF

So a simple Horn wire upon touching the iron steering column ignited sparks. Since the Reverse Camera was aftermarket it is safe to assume the car was a lower variant and may not have had Central Lock. It is possible the Central lock Failure (possibly aftermarket) was the cause of doors not opening. Only central lock causes all door to be in sync else they can be independently opened.

My intention is not to blame any party. Just want to say a shoddy workmanship on an aftermarket accessory especially an electrical one has the capability to create havoc.

[argchoff]

In December 2021 i was taking my mom to Jupiter hospital in Pune in my 14 years 9 months old maruti 800. Just as I was approaching the car park opposite the hospital i started hearing a clacking noise from under the bonnet followed by smoke emanating from the bonnet and smelling it inside the cabin.

I dropped my mom out as quickly as possible and somehow managed to enter the parking lot and stopped the car. After stopping the car there was heavy smoke coming out of the bonnet. After a while i carefully opened the bonnet staying clear of the line of fire and heavy white smoke and burning smell came out of the engine area.

I called up the Maruti guy to come and take a look and while he was on the way, completed the OPD formalities in the hospital. The maruti technician checked the car and found that the coolant hose had ruptured and the engine had overheated. This was quite a scary experience and after extensive repairs we immediately sold the car as there was only 3 months remaining in the fitness certificate , only to replace it with a S-presso........

Little did we know that an S-Presso was going to catch fire in the future.

By the way the S-Presso has manual buttons to unlock the car and i tested them today after turning the ignition off. i was totally able to unlock the front passenger side door manually with the power off. So it's a bit surprising that the front side occupants failed to evacuate.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

Does it make sense to keep a (small) fire extinguisher in the car? I have seen some fleet cabs contracted by corporates having these in place near the front passenger footwell

Here is the link of fire extinguisher that can be kept in the car : https://www.ceasefireonlineshop.com/...ibextid=Zxz2cZ



Highlights of this extinguisher:
1. ABC type - Fights Class A, B, C and Electrically started fires.
2. Six years warranty.
3. Comes with ISO 9001 and CE certification, and conforms to ISI standards.

[argchoff]

Dry powder extinguisher has one major issue. In an enclosed space like in a S-Presso releasing such medium will affect visibility, impair eyesight and possibly breathing. Also if the fire is big then a 1kg extinguisher probably won't be enough to control the fire.

The powder is white, very fine and spreads very fast on release , and though an excellent medium for fighting the fire has drawbacks as pointed above. An untrained person using this medium might get disoriented further hampering efforts to evacuate the car. If the car has already lost electrical power after the short circuit started the fire, then it would be safer to use a water type class A since burning material would be fabric and plastics in the initial stages.

AFFF foam type would be suitable in case of oil based fire but it is unlikely that fuel will leak into the cabin. If it does the fire would be spontaneous and give no time for deployment of the extinguisher.

However most people are not trained in the use of extinguishers so the best option is to smash the glass and evacuate immediately.

A break glass hammer is a must in this case.

[d.w.w.]

There is much discussion happening on options to escape and necessary tools/equipment, but I haven't seen many posts discussing PANIC. Panic is going to be your enemy when coming across such situations. Even if you are equipped with everything possible, the panic caused by the situation can blind your thoughts and you cant even think what to do unless you have a good presence of mind. In case of a fire, you need to act quick before the Carbon monoxide makes you unconscious and a panicked mind if not going to offer many escape options.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by argchoff

.. i was totally able to unlock the front passenger side door manually with the power off. So it's a bit surprising that the front side occupants failed to evacuate.

You were neither a 10 month pregnant lady nor were under panic seeing a fire erupting in front of your eyes. So there isn’t anything surprising that you were totally able to come out and they couldn’t.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

And for all the doors? Heard that for some of the Suzuki ones, only driver can do manual over ride unlock. Is that true?

I believe all doors have the manual override. Even the old 800s had that manual pull lever on the window sill on all doors.

[indianexplorer]

The little kid had to witness her parents burning to death. The pregnant woman's parents had to see their daughter burn to death. I cannot imagine the agony.

I believe Carbon Monoxide inhalation could be the reason why the two of them couldn't get out. CO instantly switches off voluntary systems of the brain, rendering people incapable of even acting upon their survival instincts.

In the process of trying to take off the seat belt in panic, trying to open the doors manually, even if there was about 5 seconds of CO inhalation, the occupants would be unconscious.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by COMMUTER

I do agree that the build quality wouldn't have done much difference in this instance for the poor couple because of their fatal mistake of carrying petrol under the driver's seat.

If petrol in a bottle is kept under the seat, even a small quantity of it seeping out can seep thru some gaps in flooring, and if it falls on a hot part of the car's machinery, there's a good chance of it igniting.

Carrying inflammable goods in the car is surprisingly common in India and very dangerous. Its sad to see that somehow we Indians discount this danger.

Similarly, we Indians overlook the dangers of not buckling a child to his/her own carseat.

Socio-economic problems, I guess. We'll take time to mature as a motoring nation, we aren't there yet.

Feel sorry for the people who perished, and the surviving members who lost their loved ones. Sairam, Om Shanti!

[speed79]

Originally Posted by indianexplorer

In the process of trying to take off the seat belt in panic, trying to open the doors manually, even if there was about 5 seconds of CO inhalation, the occupants would be unconscious.

Please verify the facts about CO positioning before posting. CO is not as quick as 5 seconds to knock someone out even in high concentration. It would take few minutes even in high concentration to make someone loose consciousness.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by vharihar

If petrol in a bottle is kept under the seat, even a small quantity of it seeping out can seep thru some gaps in flooring, and if it falls on a hot part of the car's machinery, there's a good chance of it igniting.

Carrying inflammable goods in the car is surprisingly common in India and very dangerous. Its sad to see that somehow we Indians discount this danger.

The petrol in bottles speculation has been debunked. You can get more details in the link to full post below.

Originally Posted by windrider

The reports coming in saying there were 2 bottles of petrol stored under the seat of the car is completely fake news being spread by the media. The father-in-law, who was traveling in the car at the time of the mishap has confirmed the same that there was no need of carrying petrol in bottles as he had just filled full tank a couple of days ago and there is a petrol pump within a kilometre from his house... The only reason the plastic bottles survived the fire must be because they were filled with water.

[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

The petrol in bottles speculation has been debunked. You can get more details in the link to full post below.

Thanks for the update. If petrol is ruled out, then it must be sanitizer or the power bank that cause the issue.

[bajoseph04]

Originally Posted by GTO

Very sorry to hear of this unfortunate incident & painful death. The video on YouTube is enough to bring tears to one's eyes.

I keep this (Kubotan: The $5 safety device that can break a car window & help you escape a fire) in the glovebox of my cars. Suggest you also buy it.

Do remember none of these glass breakers can break the windshield glass. Even the window or rear glasses can be unbreakable using these tools if they were tinted using 3M or similar films which is the case with 99% of cars!

I would also suggest having a genuine fire Extinguisher inside the car and accessible to the driver / co-driver. I recently got the ceasefire fire Extinguisher after watching a video of Kodiaq catch fire in TN

Ceasefire Powder Based Car & Home Fire Extinguisher (Red) - 500 gm https://amzn.eu/d/7AhTJXl

Also do note, these are just one-time usable once the seal is broken.