[hondadude]

Either the driver dozed off or he was on his mobile talking to someone. Hope he is taken to task. Good to know that no one was hurt.

[zenx]

Scary. Reminds me to drum into my son's head the need to always buckle up - even if he's "uncomfortable". Of late I've started stopping the car unless everyone is buckled up.

[Jayabusa]

Thank God, everyone is safe. From the pics it's clear that it must have been a very big bang.

[moralfibre]

Guys, its an accident. Anything can go wrong. Most of us have knocked into a car or the other at one point of our driving career. Its not a proven fact that without skid marks the car mustn't have braked? While I am trying not to judge the incident or say that the Corolla guy is not at fault lets pass this as an accident and it can happen to anyone, anywhere!

Originally Posted by GTO

My little niece, who was sitting on the middle rear seat (on the lap of my Bhabhi) was thrown forward with the force of the impact, almost until the gear lever.

Was everyone in the car wearing a seat belt? Your niece should have been in a car seat. Please get her one. I got one for my mischievous niece. She cried out loud for the first few days but some ignorance gave her a habit of only being in the car seat now.

[normally_crazy]

Thank God all are safe Rush. Make Avis take disciplinary action against the stupid driver.
The Innova seems to have suffered minimal damage, of course with day light pictures we can judge better.

Another thing this incident shows is that even the rear passengers have to be belted up. Kids should be in the child seat too.

[rks]

Originally Posted by GTO

Last evening, my Bhabhi and two year old niece were on the way to Valkeshwar, and were waiting at the traffic light right before SiddhiVinayak Temple. After being stationary for about 30 seconds, there was a LOUD whack from the year...an AVIS taxi rammed into the rear of their Innova at considerable speed. My little niece, who was sitting on the middle rear seat (on the lap of my Bhabhi) was thrown forward with the force of the impact, almost until the gear lever.

Looks like the taxi driver failed to see the signal and failed to realize in time that the Innova is stopped. Happens sometimes. I am always nervous if I am the last guy waiting in queue at the Expressway toll gates, and keep a continuous watch on my RVM (not that I can do much about a potential rear-end collision).

Anyway, I am a bit puzzled about the fact that GTO's niece was thrown *forward* despite the fact that the impact was from the rear. The force of the impact would have pushed the Innova forward and the girl should have been initially pushed back to the seat. My guess is that she got thrown forward because the Innova might have come to an abrupt halt after initially moving forward (maybe the driver braked to avoid hitting somebody in front). Did the Innova have the handbrake on? I always do that when idling in neutral at a signal.

Edit: The fact that there was apparently little damage to the Innova suggests that it was indeed pushed forward (apart from the crumple zones of the Corolla doing their job). So my guess is that the Innova handbrake was not on.

[snaronikar]

Good that everyone is safe and sound. And not much damage to the Innova. Hope the damages done to Innova can be claimed by insurance. OR Better make that AVIS driver to pay for this repairs.

I tought of 4 possible theories:
1) Brake failure of the AVIS.
2) The brakes may have not applied even though he tried to apply it.
3) The driver might have ignored the stationary vehicle standing in front.
4) He might have been looking out (something interesting) and by the time he looked back on to the street he was so close to the vehicle (Innova), even the braking would not have helped. Hence he might have left the car roll over and dash Innova.

[StarScream]

What worries me most is the little girl getting flung forward. Sheer good fortune that she didn't get hurt. It's a pity that most of us don't use car seats. That includes my wife who thinks they are more of an irritant than a help. My 7,000 rupee car seat now lies in the TV room as a kiddie chair! Fortunately my son is now old enough to use the lap belt in the back seat and doesn't complain about wearing it.

[gd1418]

Luckily your niece didn't suffer any injury. Thank God for that. Was the AVIS driver drunk or did his Corolla's brakes had failed?

Or did he suffer some seizures due to which he was not in his senses? Very strange that he didn't brake. Did you check his licence as to for how long he had been driving?

If all these factors were not present then the driver's licence should be cancelled and he should be put behind bars for endangering lives of people on the road deliberately.

Originally Posted by GTO

Last evening, my Bhabhi and two year old niece were on the way to Valkeshwar, and were waiting at the traffic light right before SiddhiVinayak Temple. After being stationary for about 30 seconds, there was a LOUD whack from the year...an AVIS taxi rammed into the rear of their Innova at considerable speed. My little niece, who was sitting on the middle rear seat (on the lap of my Bhabhi) was thrown forward with the force of the impact, almost until the gear lever. Luckily there are no external injuries to either of them or to the driver. Cops quickly gathered to the spot and an FIR was lodged, clearly stating that the Corolla was driving in a rash manner. What is surprising is that there was no tyre squeal, giving rise to suspicions that he didn't brake at all. I visited the spot and there were absolutely zero tyre marks where the idiot should have braked. I am just thinking how lucky we were that they were not in the cars that they use normally....a WagonR or a Santro. I am going to instruct AVIS to take the strictest of disciplinary action against this careless driver and / or put him under training before he kills someone!

[suman]

Rush, that was scary! Glad to hear that your niece escaped injury; hope you are able to push the point home with Avis

[GTO]

Originally Posted by BUSA

Glad to know everyone is safe. Did the Corolla have airbags? If yes, did they deploy. I think must Corolla's used in Taxi's are the base variant without airbags.

I didn't notice any blown airbags in the Corolla. Almost certain.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Was everyone in the car wearing a seat belt? Your niece should have been in a car seat.

Yup, already instructed my Bhabhi to get one.

Originally Posted by rks

Anyway, I am a bit puzzled about the fact that GTO's niece was thrown *forward* despite the fact that the impact was from the rear. Did the Innova have the handbrake on? I always do that when idling in neutral at a signal.

Edit: The fact that there was apparently little damage to the Innova suggests that it was indeed pushed forward (apart from the crumple zones of the Corolla doing their job). So my guess is that the Innova handbrake was not on.

Sharp observation, rks. The handbrake was indeed not engaged, and the Innova did fly forward only to crash into another car. But the front end had minimal damage so I didn't pay too much attention to it. Only the bumper needs replacement.

Madhuban Toyota will be providing an estimate soon and knowing modern cars, I don't expect it to be a small amount.

[snaronikar]

Originally Posted by GTO

IMadhuban Toyota will be providing an estimate soon and knowing modern cars, I don't expect it to be a small amount.

Ask the AVIS guy to pay the bills. That way it will be a lesson for him to drive carefully from next time he is on road.

[rks]

Originally Posted by GTO

Sharp observation, rks. The handbrake was indeed not engaged, and the Innova did fly forward only to crash into another car.

That could have been potentially disastrous for a two-year-old child. Very fortunate that she didn't get a head injury. Nevertheless I would recommend a thorough medical check-up just to make sure that no internal injury has happened.

I have not seen how child seat belts work. But I am not 100% sure whether seat-belts would have been a blessing in this case. For two-year-olds can easily get a serious neck injury when they are restrained by seat-belts.

All's well, that ends well. The Innova driver must be instructed to take extra precautions when transporting infants.

Edit: I normally engage hanbrakes when in neutral for the simple reason that the car might crawl forward or back when I am not attentive. This thread shows that the possbility of getting rear-ended should always be kept in mind.

[ajmat]

Watch

this

and you will realise what could have happened

[snaronikar]

. OMG looks very dangerous. Even at 30mph.