[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 people in the two cars parked in the middle of the road argued with me, blaming me for the accident because I didn’t take the left lane. With severe pain in my ribs, I could not argue with them and I sat down, trying to digest the incidents happened. By this time, the two cars drove away. I called up the roadside assistance, and as usual, they said that they will be late. News spread quickly, and the locals swarmed the location. The sub inspector from the police station arrived at the scene, but he was of no use. The locals noticed my parents were elderly, and I was having difficulty with my ribs. They were very helpful in getting us to the nearest hospital and administering first aid. After this, there was a person from the nearest service center who came to the accident spot. But the towing vehicle was yet to arrive. I gave the key to the person, and locals helped me & my parents to a nearby lodge. Then I got to know that the tow truck came around 4 am.

I had to stay in the lodge on Sunday. I hired a taxi on Monday morning to the service station, later I hired a tow truck and got my car to the nearest service station in my hometown. I left the car yesterday at the service station. Subsequently, I went to the hospital to take care of my health. I am yet to give the documents that the body shop manager asked. However, earlier today I received a call from the manager of the body shop, who informed me that the chassis had been affected and a new chassis has to be used. When I inquired about the cost, he declined to provide an estimate over the phone and suggested that I visit the service station instead. If they change the chassis, then it will cost a fortune. The insurance will cover chassis change? Experienced BHPians, please comment. The manager of the body shop told that the repair work will take at least 1 to 2 months. This is my first accident in 25 years of my driving experience. I am attaching the photo of the damaged car and the view of dash cam. Please let me know how to proceed further in my case. I am completely clueless.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

...I received a call from the manager of the body shop, who informed me that the chassis had been affected and a new chassis has to be used

Ask him how did he arrive at that data. If the chassis has taken a deforming hit then Mahindra is liable to see you in court because the air bags did not deploy. This is not the grey-area rear ending a truck without the rear crash bar, this is a proper car to car full frontal collision.

Tweet/X this story Ccing Mahindra Id and have their engineer come and reply if the chassis is indeed damaged.

PS - Naked eyes may not tell the story about the chassis. The damage in the chassis has to be so severe that it will show up as creases and paint/powder coat peel off on intended areas where the chassis is supposed to buckle. You have to see it in person and evaluate.

So I see the following possibilities.

1) If the chassis is bent, shame on Mahindra, sue them for airbags not opening in such a high impact crash. Get insurance to write off the car or see what is the time and money to get a new chassis and repair the car. Ideally not worth it. New chassis can take upto 6 weeks for delivery, another 4 weeks for swapping your car over to the new chassis, along with new parts needed. And then the RTO work is a big hassle in itself to change the chassis #.

2) If chassis is not bent (i hope so) it is just a normal insurance claim, may take 4 weeks seeing the picuture and video, but need to see a full report from ASS.

3) Revisit point 1, calculate the out of pocket expenses and make a note some place. I would then ask you to sit down with both insurance company and ASS, come to a settlement and write off the car and limit your out of pocket expenses to the initial budget or say add 10-15% to it, and get rid of the car and close off the loan (if any) and get a new car.

The repair is not worth it, if you can avoid it. Anyways you are loosing either now in the form of out of pocket expenses, or in future in form of highly depreciated accident car value.

Might as well get over it now itself.

-------------------

Originally Posted by sabsubs

The people in the two cars parked in the middle of the road argued with me,

Just an observation. The red hatch back took off almost immediately and ran away as if he has no business in that place. So may be those cars did not know each other, or were already in a road rage argument, or some other strange reason parked in the middle of a free way. Do you have the full video? Only the blue car guy/s may have approached you.

Hope you get well soon, how are your parents?

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Couple of days back, I met with an accident while driving my ScorpioN.

Glad to know that you all are safe without much injuries.

Whatever damage, should be taken care of by insurance. What were those people doing in middle of a highway? Crazy.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

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

This accident is atrocious indeed; actually, atrocious is too light a term. Those two jokers are trying to get someone killed. And they have the gall to blame you for this. It is totally understandable that you couldn't / didn't argue with that idiot, given your state.

Can someone with good editing skills figure out the license plate of the blue car (is it a Slavia)? And then, possibly find a way to at least let the person know what a buffoon they are, if not have them pay for it. The video is ample evidence that they are at fault.

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.

Hope the three of you are doing okay. Wish you a speedy recovery.

[sabsubs]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Ask him how did he arrive at that data. If the chassis has taken a deforming hit then Mahindra is liable to see you in court because the air bags did not deploy.

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.

Tweet/X this story Ccing Mahindra Id and have their engineer come and reply if the chassis is indeed damaged.

Okay. I will fight to bring the engineers from Mahindra.

1) If the chassis is bent, shame on Mahindra, sue them for airbags not opening in such a high impact crash. Get insurance to write off the car or see what is the time and money to get a new chassis and repair the car.

Okay, I got your point.

2)If chassis is not bent (i hope so) it is just a normal insurance claim, may take 4 weeks seeing the picuture and video, but need to see a full report from ASS.

3) Revisit point 1, calculate the out of pocket expenses and make a note some place. I would then ask you to sit down with both insurance company and ASS, come to a settlement and write off the car and limit your out of pocket expenses to the initial budget or say add 10-15% to it, and get rid of the car and close off the loan (if any) and get a new car.

Yeah point taken. I think next few days are going to be hectic.

The repair is not worth it, if you can avoid it.

Very true. I was not thinking about the future about selling the car

Just an observation. The red hatch back took off almost immediately and ran away as if he has no business in that place.

Yes the red hatch back did not stay behind after the crash and it vanished immediately after the crash. I suppose the red car was asking direction to some place, that's what the blue car guys told. They were arguing that it was my mistake. They also took off in minutes after being approached by a couple of cars. I will post couple of more videos that happened after the crash.

Hope you get well soon, how are your parents?

I still have severe pain. I took Xray, doctors have asked me to take CT scan. But the pain is unbearable. My mom has a couple of injuries. The doctor told it was just blood clots. Hopefully, she gets better.

Thank you very much for your inputs. Your answers have given me an approach to pursue this further.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Can someone with good editing skills figure out the license plate of the blue car (is it a Slavia)?

Actually, a funny thing happened in the morning. I got a call from Volkswagen ASS, not sure which one. They called me to check whether I was the owner of the car which I rear-ended. It surprised me that how they got my number and I am not sure why they gave my number to the ASS. One thing is for sure, the information that I got from locals is that the car is a local car. The ASS told me the car number is TN57AU9189.

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

What were those people doing in middle of a highway? Crazy.

Crazy people. Since they are local people, they think that whatever they do is correct. If they had fought & if they had hit me, I was having pepper spray ready in my pocket. But that did not happen. They saw my situation and backed off.

[Roy.S]

From what I can tell the impact was at 90kmph. Is it normal for the airbags to not open? Also, given that he was wearing his belt (and, thankfully so were his parents) how did he hit the steering wheel? I have had a couple of incidents where I had to brake sharply and I remember being kept in place by the belt.
The car seems to have taken the impact extremely well but this leads me back to a question I had asked years ago on this forum. Do Mahindras rely on switches instead of sensors to activate the airbags?
@sabsubs wishing you and your parents a speedy recovery. Do keep us posted.

[sunejarahul]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Hello my dear TeamBhpians, Couple of days back, I met with an accident while driving my ScorpioN.

That was terrifying! I can't decide if I should be glad the car absorbed the crash well or should I instead be appalled at the fact that airbags on a Mahindra have yet again failed to deploy. Good thing you all came out relatively harmless. Hope & wish you recover well and soon...

Coming to your predicament, it's not absurd for a car to have sustained a damaged chasis after an impact of that kind. From the video it seems you almost did not brake at all and the other car was almost at standstill. The most obvious test would be inspecting the underbody and assessing the damage, looking for any frame deformities. Under no circumstances should you agree to get this car repaired if it is determined that the chasis has been impacted in any way. Insist upon the car being written off or suggest taking the decision to the courts. Chances are, one of the two parties will agree to a settlement.

Judging by how things go in our country, it might be a tough battle with Mahindra & the Insurer if they don't budge but do ascertain the degree of the damage beyond any doubt before you decide to take the legal recourse. Do not shy away from posting this across social media tagging M&M's official handles.

Ofcourse, the airbag failure (now a recurring issue with Mahindra) needs to be reported to and addressed by the higher authorities at M&M on priority and this alone should be sufficient grounds for suing M&M if they do actually stand-by their BS of airbags deploying only at 120 Kph or above.

[sabsubs]

Originally Posted by sunejarahul

That was terrifying! I can't decide if I should be glad the car absorbed the crash well or should I instead be appalled at the fact that airbags on a Mahindra have yet again failed to deploy. Good thing you all came out relatively harmless. Hope & wish you recover well and soon...

Thank you Sunejarahul. We are in a shock, yet to get the accident out of our mind.

Today I went to the service station. They had parked the car in their yard. As the manager of the body shop mentioned, the chassis indeed was bent. They have given me an initial estimate of 3,30,000/-

Also, they mentioned that the insurance will take care of 90% and I have to spend 10% from my pocket. My question is whether this is the norm in all insurance claims? Or am I being tricked?

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

I still have severe pain. I took Xray, doctors have asked me to take CT scan.

Start making a medical folder/file and get receipts for everything you are doing along with doctor certificate and their written report.

Actually, a funny thing happened in the morning. I got a call from Volkswagen ASS, not sure which one. They called me to check whether I was the owner of the car which I rear-ended.

Now it is no more funny. He is most likely going to file or already filed a police case against your car. That is why he has asked his ASS to contact your ASS (from your vehicle number, it is easy to find out your name and contact).

It surprised me that how they got my number and I am not sure why they gave my number to the ASS. One thing is for sure, the information that I got from locals is that the car is a local car. The ASS told me the car number is TN57AU9189.

I would say you should consider talking to a lawyer now. Thank your stars there is no causality. TN57 is Dindugul, TN. Your post did not mention where did the crash occur. Please go back to that spot, find the local police station, explain your medical condition after the accident and please file a case in that same jurisdiction. Get that copy of FIR with you. Please carry a Pen drive copy, and 20-30 color print outs of the moment leading upto the accident. Sadly you could be in the wrong here in the eyes of the law. Your 90+ speed is in excess of the 80 speeds in NHAI unless you were in a 100 zone which I dont think is the case. And at no point your speed as per dash cam reduced until the point of impact.

Either ways, the worst thing that could happen is the law declares you are on the wrong side, and your TP insurance would pay for the other car and your financial burden would go up on the next car. There would be no jail time. But some running around to do depending on where the case would be heard. TN, Madurai, Chennai...

I was having pepper spray ready in my pocket. But that did not happen. They saw my situation and backed off.

Dont ever try such a thing!!!

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Also, they mentioned that the insurance will take care of 90% and I have to spend 10% from my pocket.

90-10 should be mentioned in your insurance policy, My suggestion is talk to insurance guys to find a buyer in this condition, there are many many 'grey' market dealers who will gladly buy a Scorpio 1 year old and make a quick sale. Your losses will be the 10% of 3.3 lacs and say if you can limit the overall loss to 1 lac, write it off and move on.

[sagarpadaki]

Glad that you and parents are safe. I am really surprised that the airbags did not deploy at 90 kmph. Considering this was a full-on frontal collision, they should have been deployed and saved your chest/ribs. Somehow, this does not inspire confidence at all on the Mahindra product.

I cannot think of any plausible reason for airbag not deploying.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Also, they mentioned that the insurance will take care of 90% and I have to spend 10% from my pocket. My question is whether this is the norm in all insurance claims? Or am I being tricked?

Which is this Insurance company approving a 3.3L claim without an FIR? The same would be in case of the Slavia. It would have also run a huge estimate which would demand an FIR or a police complaint at least. Thats the reason you would have got a call from them. I think it would have been better if you had already gone ahead and filed a police complaint. I understand that you were injured and in pain. But at least now you would have to do it in the local police station. I am sure that the Slavia owner would have filed a complaint about someone rear ending their car.

While the two cars definitely erred in what they did, you cannot assume that there would not be two stationary cars on the road. From the beginning of the video, we can see the two cars with their brake lights on in full glow. There could have been a different hazard on the road to which they had stopped. Yet you never slowed down even though an average car would have easily slowed down to a very negligible speed in the five seconds of time you had. In five seconds you could have come to a near halt. I hope you also relook into what made you not slow down till the last moment. And regarding that airbag, it deserves a complaint in the consumer court. This is a classic collision which no one can give excuses about for not deploying.

[Turbanator]

Sorry but it does appear that you were not focussed on road. Though the person who has parked in fast lane has no business in that lane, you should have slowed and stopped or applied brakes, I don’t see any reaction.

Anyways, that’s the reason we all have insurance and I don’t think the other insurance will file a counter claim. Since no one is hurt badly, it’s all about car repair claim. 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. That’s something you can push, and get some benefit if you decide to buy another Mahindra.

[StarrySky]

I think the GPS speed printed on the video has a couple of seconds of lag. In the video, the Scorpio comes to an almost complete stop as soon as the rear-ending occurs. However, after the rear ending, the printed speed changes to something like 66km/h, and then 32km/h, and then changes to 1.9km/h.

So I believe the OP did apply the brakes, but it wasn't enough.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

Video of the crash: https://Youtu.be/aUlkUwBUsb4

Glad to know that you all are safe! Couldn't stop thinking on the runners after such an impact or how come their car survived the impact. Did you take down the video? Is it possible to share it primarily to understand the scenario and where the issue was?

[procrj]

Originally Posted by sabsubs

As the manager of the body shop mentioned, the chassis indeed was bent

Hope you and your parents get better soon. If possible, please do share a few more pics of the bent chasis. Also do clarify how the workshop plans to repair the bent chasis. 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. Please do talk to the ASS folks and get a detailed understanding of the above, before going ahead.