[xbox360]

I was driving down to my office in Gachibowli Hyderabad this morning and was just a few meters from my office when suddenly a Sumo in front of me hits a 2 wheeler and the scooterist is on the road. My natural reaction was to brake to avoid running over the poor fellow. I braked with good margin between me and the Sumo. Seconds pass 1 ---- 2 ....
Now this is enough time for the people behind me to stop comfortably.

This is when i hear a loud thud and realize that someone has banged into my car from behind. i get out of the car, and i am greeted by a smiling autowala. He is amused with what he has done. if this wasn't enough when i asked him to park his vehicle on the side the idiot makes a run for it. I had to chase him and get him so stop. This time i dragged this idiot out of the auto and removed the key from the auto.

The damage to my car is that the rear bumper has a big impression of the auto's headlight and this portion of the bumper is bent and has sunk a bit inside. I called 100 and luckily they answered the phone. They told me that a police jeep is on its way. In the meanwhile the autowala calls up his friends and i am mobbed by 10-15 autowalas all trying to explain that there is hardly any damage to my vehicle. I had in the meanwhile enquired from Ford the cost of the bumper replacement which is a hefty 8k.

I was in the sun which the auto keys in my pocket for good 2 hrs waiting for the police to arrive and trying to get the autowalas to pay up for the damage. I was given all kind of hindi movie dialogues on how poor is the autowala and how he can not pay up for the damage. He offered to pay whatever was in his pocket and when he emptied his pockets he produced Rs 200. Then they all pooled in and mustered Rs 400.
Though this was a paltry sum and would not even dent the cost of the bumper replacement, i decided to take the money so that the autowala feels atleast some pinch (as this was easily his few days earning and moreover he has to now pay for his auto's damages) and possibly learns a lesson.

Not sure if there was anything else i could do. I am sure the idiot will be back on the road in no time and will probably have learnt nothing from this experience. As for me, i have to now start talking to the service station and the insurance people to get my car back in shape.

[gd1418]

What I've not understood is that is there a special tribe to which all autowallahs all over belong to? It is so amazing that their behaviour is so universal all over.

My sympathies with you for the damage suffered.

Originally Posted by xbox360

I was driving down to my office in Gachibowli Hyderabad this morning and was just a few meters from my office when suddenly a Sumo in front of me hits a 2 wheeler and the scooterist is on the road. My natural reaction was to brake to avoid running over the poor fellow. I braked with good margin between me and the Sumo. Seconds pass 1 ---- 2 ....
Now this is enough time for the people behind me to stop comfortably.

This is when i hear a loud thud and realize that someone has banged into my car from behind. i get out of the car, and i am greeted by a smiling autowala. He is amused with what he has done. if this wasn't enough when i asked him to park his vehicle on the side the idiot makes a run for it. I had to chase him and get him so stop. This time i dragged this idiot out of the auto and removed the key from the auto.

[lamborghini]

Xbox,
if the bumper is not badly replaced, you can just ask the service station folks to even out the bumper.
As the bumper is made of plastic, i believe they can just heat it up and the dent would pop back into place.
However, you would see a few scars.
This is what they did when our Accord and fiesta were rear ended.

[vnabhi]

My sympathies to you for the loss you have suffered.
I wish we get together someday and thrash those bloody auto-wallahs. I see no reason why he could not stop.
I would have felt like gouging his teeth out for smiling and trying to escape.
I too had to claim insurance for denting and painting my new Fiesta for 3 such accidents--one by an auto, another by a bike and one by an 800. Luckily, I could report all 3 as one incident.

[rks]

Originally Posted by xbox360

I braked with good margin between me and the Sumo. Seconds pass 1 ---- 2 ....
Now this is enough time for the people behind me to stop comfortably.

This is when i hear a loud thud and realize that someone has banged into my car from behind.

Autos have very poor brakes and further this guy was probably dreaming.

In general, it is a good idea to make full use of the braking distance you have, in the interests of avoiding being rear-ended. Of course your reaction of stopping with a good margin was understandable in this context and may have been an instinctive one in order to avoid running over the fallen scooterist.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by rks

Autos have very poor brakes and further this guy was probably dreaming.

In general, it is a good idea to make full use of the braking distance you have, in the interests of avoiding being rear-ended. Of course your reaction of stopping with a good margin was understandable in this context and may have been an instinctive one in order to avoid running over the fallen scooterist.

in order to avoid being rear-ended, i use a small trick.

first thing always maintain safe distance so incase of emergency, when you brake suddenly, there would be some space infront of you, so i would slowly move my car forward, the vehicles following me would slow down at first instance when i have breaked and even if they dont have the same breaking power, they wont rear-end me as i have given them the extra space.

This trick has worked for me so far, but still if somebody rear-ends me, there is nothing i could do other than capture the damage on my camera phone and take down the number of that vehicle.

raj.

[xbox360]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Xbox,
if the bumper is not badly replaced, you can just ask the service station folks to even out the bumper.
As the bumper is made of plastic, i believe they can just heat it up and the dent would pop back into place.
However, you would see a few scars.
This is what they did when our Accord and fiesta were rear ended.

Thanks for the advice. I will explore this route with the service folks.

[xbox360]

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

in order to avoid being rear-ended, i use a small trick.

first thing always maintain safe distance so incase of emergency, when you brake suddenly, there would be some space infront of you, so i would slowly move my car forward, the vehicles following me would slow down at first instance when i have breaked and even if they dont have the same breaking power, they wont rear-end me as i have given them the extra space.

This trick has worked for me so far, but still if somebody rear-ends me, there is nothing i could do other than capture the damage on my camera phone and take down the number of that vehicle.

raj.

I generally follow the same principle, but seeing the fallen scooterist in front of me, somehow out of instinct i stayed put and didn't move an inch.

[lohithrao]

Dude check with the local painter/tinker they would be much cheaper then the company.

Agree with gd, Autowallahs are behave the same every where.
Under powerd vehicles with no brakes/lights/indicators to top it bad drivers/riders.

[speedmiester]

Sorry to hear about this Xbox.
I think you did a right job in teaching the auto driver a lesson. I hope he has learnt his lesson.

[rjstyles69]

xbox sorry to know about the accident. You have no choice now than fix it by shelling out money from your pocket. Its ok, move on and get the car fixed.

The imbeciles are everywhere and their species never seem to graduate to civilization.

Wonder whats with the Fords and the Auto's? Benny are you reading ?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Wonder whats with the Fords and the Auto's? Benny are you reading ?

Guess they are like bees & honey.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

xbox sorry to know about the accident. You have no choice now than fix it by shelling out money from your pocket. Its ok, move on and get the car fixed.

The imbeciles are everywhere and their species never seem to graduate to civilization.

Wonder whats with the Fords and the Auto's? Benny are you reading ?

Opposites attract---the best vehicle to travel in and the worst , to be precise

[humyum]

Best bet of being safe from getting rear ended is to buy a 'maruti 800'.The brakes are so pathetic that the only car that can get rear ended is the car in front of u
No offence to any 800 owners.I myself own an 800 and this is out of experience

[Nitin]

Originally Posted by humyum

Best bet of being safe from getting rear ended is to buy a 'maruti 800'.The brakes are so pathetic that the only car that can get rear ended is the car in front of u
No offence to any 800 owners.I myself own an 800 and this is out of experience

Quite true.. I used to drive my dad's Opel Astra all the time, and they had excellent brakes. I had to drive my cousin's M800 one day, and the 1st time I had to hit the brakes, I had to literally stand on the brakes to be able to come to a halt. I stopped exactly 2" from the vehicle in front of me, and I had been doing a max of 30-40kmph. Scared the daylights out of me!!!