[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

As being suggested by others, do not repair the car if chassis is to be replaced. Absorb loss and move on. Do ask Mahindra about non deployment of Airbags though

Originally Posted by procrj

Mostly, such repair would involve cutting off a part of the chasis and welding on another part. I'm not sure how this will compromise structural integrity of your car..

That's not the case in a ladder frame chassis vehicle. In fact that's one of the benefits of a ladder frame compared to a monocoque car. The entire ladder frame will be replaced instead of any cutting and welding and it's one of the most straight forward jobs. In this case the damage has pulled the ladder frame towards the center and this is irreparable. Hence the service center wants to replace the frame. This is not to be confused with replacing the entire shell of a monocoque vehicle. So there is no harm in getting this work done. They will split the body and ladder frame apart which is very common and then work on the ladder frame separately. Only engine and drivetrain components must be shifted from the old frame to the new.

Check this for reference

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uoh2FAjT0QY?feature=shared

[sabsubs]

Today I spoke to the regional manager from Mahindra. I told him about the accident and air bags did not deploy at a speed of 90 KMPH. I also told him about what the manager of the body shop told me. He told me that the car’s airbags should have deployed at 90 KMPH. I also asked him how come the chassis was bent. I was not travelling at 130 or 140. I drove within the speed limits. The roads were laid recently. Anyhow, the regional manager promised me to get these two checked by Mahindra engineers. I will keep pressure on him until I get an answer.

Thanks to everyone who is asking about our health. My rib pain is excruciating. I can’t lie down or get up. I require one person to lift me. Apart from that, my parents are slowly coming to the terms. Next is to visit the service station while the inspection happens. I will update the thread once I get more information.

[bhp_maniac]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

My rib pain is excruciating. I can’t lie down or get up. I require one person to lift me. Apart from that, my parents are slowly coming to the terms. Next is to visit the service station while the inspection happens. I will update the thread once I get more information.

Sorry to hear about this ordeal you are going through, I was in a similar unfortunate incident last year. My ribs didn't hit the steering wheel but the seatbelt action resulted in extreme rib pain for few days. I needed someone's help to get up, however laying down on the side helped though. As others suggested, do get proper medical care, but just wanted to reassure you that the pain will eventually go away. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

[Axe77]

Take care buddy. I haven’t seen the video since you have changed it to private. Could you perhaps at least post some screen grabs from the video so we can visualise the highway, where these cars were parked on the road etc.

From everything I’ve read, this really seems to be the fault of the two parked cars. This is the kind of mindless behaviour on our roads that causes many such incidents.

Hope you make a speedy recovery and very happy to hear everyone was buckled and your parents did not suffer anything worse - could have very well been much worse specially given their age etc. Bit shocked to hear that in a straight collision like this the airbags haven’t deployed. Quite shocking to say the least.

[Apex1815]

Really Sorry to know about this incidence and all the troubles you have to go through.

I am curious to know that is it normal for a driver hitting the steering wheel during such a collision ? Are there any chances that Vehicle restraint system had some issues because of which Seat belt was unable to prevent you from hitting the steering wheel ?

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Couple of days back, I met with an accident while driving my ScorpioN. The accident was very atrocious.

I am relieved to hear that there was no fatality in this accident. Wish you a speedy recovery.

The car took a hit, but the air bags did not open. My ribs hit the steering wheel.

This is serious matter and must be taken up strongly with Mahindra.

One thing came to my mind, that in this accident the car in front was pushed ahead on impact and resultant deceleration of your vehicle didn't reach threshold limit. However, the bent chassis gives counter evidence.

I was on the right side of the lane, that is the speed lane. There was an over-bridge, and there were two cars parked right in the middle of the road. As there was a small curve on top of the bridge, I could not spot the cars, and there were no hazard lights switched on and only rear brake lights were on. I thought the cars were moving. It was too late by the time I realized the cars were stationary and I rear-ended the car

This is where I would say, the fault lies with you. Driving at high enough speed, not able to judge the situation and rear ending someone.

Around ten years back, I was in similar situation where I rear-ended a car on GST road south of Chennai. The driver of that car did emergency braking to save an idiot who had jumped across. I too braked hard from about 70kmph, but wheels on my vehicle got locked (no ABS) and rear-ended him (though at very low speed). Minor damage to my vehicle's grill, bonnet. The other car had minor damage to bumper. Luckily there was no other vehicle behind us.

My wife summarized the incident: "It's your fault, you were driving to close at speed, not leaving enough space in between." Didn't dare to argue that my speed was within limit as I knew she was right.

The speed at which I was driving was around 90kmph... I was not travelling at 130 or 140. I drove within the speed limits. The roads were laid recently.

If you can prove that you were driving within speed limits, that may be a mitigating factor, but will not absolve you. Speed limit is not what's printed on board, that's max. speed allowed on that stretch by authorities.

In reality, speed limit is outcome of following :

• Max. permissible speed limit (printed on board)
• Conditions on road including visibility, traction etc.
• Condition of vehicle
• Condition of driver

I may sound like preaching, but that's what I am inculcating in myself over past many years and it's still work in progress.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

I asked the manager of the body shop; he told me, the air bags will deploy only at 120kmph.

Very shocking ignorance. Why did then the airbag deployed during the 64KMPH NCAP testing? If the airbag did not deploy in such cases, why even they are put in the car, So much about the Mahindra's safety talks.

Other than airbag the car did took the impact like a 5* car. Please push Mahindra for this point.

I wish you and your parents a speedy recovery and peaceful resolution to the repair nightmares.

[offroad]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Yes, tomorrow I am going to the service station to check his claim and will follow your suggestion. I asked the manager of the body shop; he told me, the air bags will deploy only at 120kmph. I was like I will counter him tomorrow.

I am trying to understand about the airbags deployment.
The maximum speed limit on most of the highways are 80KMPH and logically, the airbags should have been deployed at that speed and not at 120KMPH.

Q1) Is it an assumption that the strength of the car will be good enough for the passengers to survive when you take a hit at 80KMPH and hence the airbags will be only deployed when you are over 120KMPH?
Q2) Does airbags get deployed only at 120KMPH for all the cars!?

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Yes, tomorrow I am going to the service station to check his claim and will follow your suggestion. I asked the manager of the body shop; he told me, the air bags will deploy only at 120kmph. I was like I will counter him tomorrow.

The 120kmph claim makes no sense. GNCAP crash tests are done at 64kmph. If what the manager is saying is true, the airbags should never have deployed during the crash tests either.'

But you can clearly see the airbags deploying in the video of the crash test -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKdpfkOQA84

[manchandap]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Hello my dear TeamBhpians,

Couple of days back, I met with an accident while driving my ScorpioN. The accident was very atrocious. I was on the right side of the lane, that is the speed lane. There was an over-bridge, and there were two cars parked right in the middle of the road. The speed at which I was driving was around 90kmph.

As there was a small curve on top of the bridge, I could not spot the cars, and there were no hazard lights switched on and only rear brake lights were on. I thought the cars were moving. It was too late by the time I realized the cars were stationary and I rear-ended the car that was parked on the speed lane. The car took a hit, but the air bags did not open. My ribs hit the steering wheel. I had my aged parents in the car. They are 80 years above. We all three were wearing seat belts.

The first and foremost thing is that there has been no serious injury or fatality in the crash.

What I would suggest is:

• Focus on recovery, both physical and psychological, of yours and of your parents. This is the paramount thing. Things go wrong in one way or other.
• Focus on recovery of your car. There have been useful suggestions. Weigh in your options, financial loss etc and decide accordingly.

Another point is about who is at fault. I was not able to see the video but will still offer my opinion:

If the car was stationary and you were within the legal speed limit, then the driver of that stationary car is at fault. There have been many judgements wherein a stationary vehicle on the road has been found guilty.

On other hand, it would be a different story if that car was moving slowly and you were not able to take preventive action due to whatever reason.

Drawing inference of what happened or what didn't happen on a discussion forum is altogether different from proving one's point in court of law. The biggest one is whether the car was stationary and parked illegally without any indicators or other safety measures like bushes/stones on the carriageway of the road.

So, keep all your documentary evidence in place like the videos, pics, ASS documents, medical related (prescription, test reports, bills) etc.

If the other party had filed a police complaint: You would have got a call from the police officials by now. You can check the FIR online.

Other way is to send a trusted and experienced person to the jurisdictional police station who can get the required information.

[som9729]

Originally Posted by offroad

I am trying to understand about the airbags deployment.
The maximum speed limit on most of the highways are 80KMPH and logically, the airbags should have been deployed at that speed and not at 120KMPH.

Q1) Is it an assumption that the strength of the car will be good enough for the passengers to survive when you take a hit at 80KMPH and hence the airbags will be only deployed when you are over 120KMPH?
Q2) Does airbags get deployed only at 120KMPH for all the cars!?

All this sounds like some drama.
Whatever they tell you, get it in writing.
Either via email or atleast whatsapp

Don't accept purely verbal opinions.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Thanks to everyone who is asking about our health. My rib pain is excruciating. I can’t lie down or get up. I require one person to lift me. Apart from that, my parents are slowly coming to the terms. Next is to visit the service station while the inspection happens. I will update the thread once I get more information.

Please consult a good physician get a CT/MRI done to rule out internal injuries to lungs or other organs.

[prajwalmr62]

Originally Posted by offroad

I am trying to understand about the airbags deployment.
The maximum speed limit on most of the highways are 80KMPH and logically, the airbags should have been deployed at that speed and not at 120KMPH.

Q1) Is it an assumption that the strength of the car will be good enough for the passengers to survive when you take a hit at 80KMPH and hence the airbags will be only deployed when you are over 120KMPH?
Q2) Does airbags get deployed only at 120KMPH for all the cars!?

Q1 - Airbag deployment is not determined by strength of the car, but the strength of human body. It doesn't matter how the car absorbs the impact energy, but how much human body traveling along with car, is going to loose that kinetic energy build up. A impact in a 5 star car without airbags can end up being just as fatal as any other low-rated car! Remember this, the NCAPs do tests at 64kmph, not 80-100-120kmph. None of the cars in the world are rated for speeds mentioned above.

Q2 - Airbags should get deployed for almost any impact with speed > 25-30kmph. Depending on the scenario, it might get deployed in lower speeds as well. It is triggered by an accelerometer which senses the deceleration of the car and determines if airbags should be deployed. Probably it malfunctioned or worse, there could be some issue with the entire batch.

Sometimes, when the point of contact is very low or unusually angled impact, airbags might not get deployed. But here, it is a head-on impact. This does not bode well with a company that boasts 5 star ratings on their entire range. If I remember correctly, this is not the first such incident with Mahindra, but not limited to Mahindra alone. I expect stringent investigation at least from Engineering department of Mahindra if they consider safety as their USP.

[HTC]

Originally Posted by som9729

All this sounds like some drama.
Whatever they tell you, get it in writing.
Either via email or atleast whatsapp

Don't accept purely verbal opinions.

WhatsApp cannot be used in court. SMS or email works.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by offroad

I am trying to understand about the airbags deployment.
The maximum speed limit on most of the highways are 80KMPH and logically, the airbags should have been deployed at that speed and not at 120KMPH.

Q1) Is it an assumption that the strength of the car will be good enough for the passengers to survive when you take a hit at 80KMPH and hence the airbags will be only deployed when you are over 120KMPH?
Q2) Does airbags get deployed only at 120KMPH for all the cars!?

You will get some information that you have been looking here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...ml#post3653040 (Airbags: All you need to know!)