[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by pdev29

Spitfire,

why dont you try and poke into all the accidents which takes place? why only this?

ok.

and regarding us we know what we are suppose to do.

Oh i never doubted that

[alpha1]

This thread reminds me once again that we humans are biased towards ppl that we know "personally".

[Lalvaz]

Pdev & Spitfire - Quit fighting like kids guys. The accident's happened. We're not going to achieve anything by getting at each others throats.

@Pdev - You said you knew what happened that day. Please tell everyone your version of the events, if you do know something.

@Spitfire - We respect and understand your right to comment on something that has appeared in the media. You've made some very valid points. Now, lets leave it at that and move on please.

@DocG - You've said Mihir has got many years of driving experience. Way I see it, a 20 year old could have only 2 years of legal driving experience in India. Just how many years has Mihir been driving in India?

Last but not the least. God bless the poor cyclist and his family.

[veyron1]

My condolences to the deceased's family.

Just a question. Why should this thread be locked? IMHO, This being a public forum, everybody's entitled to an expressible opinion, is it not? There may be biased views and unbiased ones, but truth has its own sweet way and time to come out. And come out it shall. So why lock the thread?

And since we're all expressing our opinions, here's my humble one. As an automotive forum, I think we, as members, have the intelligence to see both sides of the coin. The driver's as well as the victim's. Something that the media cannot do.

When John Abraham hit a cyclist on his R1, after the initial 2 days' worth fiasco, the truth came out that the cyclist was coming from the wrong side, and John faced the tankslapper whilst trying to avoid the unavoidable. Thankfully, no casualities resulted of the incident apart from the R1.

We know for a fact that the driver was not DUI. At least from the "reports". In that case, irresponsibility is out of the reckoning. This was a very unfortunate incident. Perhaps, as a community of enthusiasts, we can try to look at it from the POV of one...

Somebody should post what happened in its entirety, so that all these speculations may cease.

[Vid6639]

The car looks like it did not have a complete paintjob. So maybe the build was not complete and Mihir and his co passenger where testing something when something went wrong. Since the co driver is brother of AR motorsports owner it could be possible that the car was under test. Testing in a crowded area is not a very good idea.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by aniguchisan

Let me be unbiased here - the car looks fairly damaged. Now it couldn't have been doing 20 odd kmph now could it (as most would believe in evening traffic on a Sunday in the Mumbai suburbs)?

I am acquainted with someone who knows Mihir like family, yet I choose to be completely unbiased. The fact is that someone's died. The fact is that a high performance and WELL-BUILT car seems to exhibit fairly high damage. A cyclist coming into the path of a well built Japanese car travelling at law-abiding speeds would not cause heavy frontal damage to the same, and it probably wouldn't lead to his death. How can I be so sure? Well, I was hit by a non-speeding Japanese car in Japan as a seven year old whilst riding a bicycle. The car was virtually undamaged. I cut open my right leg but I survived.

Perhaps the auto caused further damage. You'd have to still be going fairly fast to end up with damage like that. Anyway, god bless the departed soul :(

Fitting post, Aniguchisan. Look, we don't know who is at fault and who isn't. But we'd be pretty naive to assume that the car was doing 20 kph. Reports from people who've seen the car in person attest to the substantial damage. Who are we kidding?

Originally Posted by pdev29

if you dont know the whole story then just dont put your view in very blunt way which can spoil someones life.

Why don't you post the true story here and clear the air up for everyone? You obviously seem to know more than meets the eye.

Originally Posted by jesal

two words. close thread. we all have our views.

The Mod team doesn't see why the thread needs to be closed. Are you suggesting the thread be closed just because some people on the board know him? We discuss other accidents, I don't see why this should be an exception. Forums, by definition, are called discussion boards and that's exactly what we are doing i.e. discussing. If any of you feel that the information projected by the media is incorrect, please put forth clarifications. We welcome them.

Also, if you wish to request any moderator action, the only way to do it is via the "report this post to a moderator" functionality.

[Cyrus43]

I agree with GTO. This is a public forum and everyone deserves to put his or her own views.. If someone knows what has happened (apart from what most of us think that has happened), let us know. There are chances that there could have been a mechanical failure. Like maybe a busted brake line or something. In that case, all doubts about Mihir's driving ethics will be immidiately put to rest!!

The Accident has already happened! There is no way you can bring the dead to life!! So there is no use bickering like small kids. Come on fellas, Grow UP!!

[DocG]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

@Pdev - You said you knew what happened that day. Please tell everyone your version of the events, if you do know something.

@DocG - You've said Mihir has got many years of driving experience. Way I see it, a 20 year old could have only 2 years of legal driving experience in India. Just how many years has Mihir been driving in India?

1) There are many of us who do know a lot more of the story, however have been requested to keep it off the media (TBhp included) in the interest of the affected parties. bear with us till the time is right.

2) Mihir is not 20, but in his mid 20s. Also get serious how many of us waited till we were legal before we got behind the wheel. We call ourselves automotive enthusiasts, and hence we should be more responsible that the average Joe, but at the same time we've all broken some rule or the other. I'm 21 but have been driving for well over 7 years now, do the math...

3) Please guys what media are you trusting? The many a times auto illiterate media who hunts for "Breaking News" every second? Bear in mind that the same media has many a time called a Lambo a Ferrari, and a Nissan 350Z a Toyota Supra!
The fact is Expensive car + Rich kid + Dead person = Breaking News
The media are 100% bias in this case. Roughly 250 people die on the road everyday here in India (A conservative published statistic). Why is it that media chooses to cover this accident over the other 249 automotive related deaths which took place on Sunday?

4) Another fact of life: If any of us had any sort of connections with the authorities or politicos which would help us get out of some mistake/trouble I'm sure we'd use them. Hell that's just human tendency. So please don't point fingers saying that that's typical rich kid behavior, it's just a very Human defense mechanism. Not that I condone it, but I just wonder what I would have done being in his place, and I too would rather receive a more gentle treatment from the Mumbai police instead of the way they treat the 'common' criminal!

5) Someone earlier quoted the incident involving John Abraham. Well another one from a personal experience, my car enters a parking lot via the exit (My driver is an idiot). Another car reverses out of his spot looking in the correct direction and rams the front right fender of my car, breaking the RH headlight as well. My driver gets out and many other drivers collect and together start screaming at the driver of the other car (Self-driven). I just got out and walked up to the man, apologized for my driver's mistake and requested him to let me know the total damages. What my point is that every one who witnessed the accident pounced on the poor doctor in the wagon R. The truth however was that it was my driver's fault, and not the other gentleman's (Happened in the parking lot of the hospital I work at). So blindly pointing fingers is not the way to go about such a case, we're all just gonna have to wait for more details to become clear.

6) Lastly I'm not saying let's not debate about this incident, I'm just requesting everyone to hold judgment for now, until more concrete evidence is reported.

DocG
PS: I seem to be defending Mihir a lot, it's not because I know him, it's just that tomorrow if I were in his place and people talked about me in this manner, I would feel terrible. Hence I would like to see the courts judgment before I pass my own. Don't be mistaken, I will be judging Mihir here too...But until the whole picture is laid down before us, we need to chill

[aniguchisan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Fitting post, Aniguchisan. Look, we don't know who is at fault and who isn't. But we'd be pretty naive to assume that the car was doing 20 kph. Reports from people who've seen the car in person attest to the substantial damage. Who are we kidding?

Thank you. I only stated the speed issue in reference to the post that whether he could possibly be doing anywhere near triple digit figures at 8pm on a Sunday evening at Vile Parle.

[ThE_DoN]

We all are the same aren't we?

What DocG correctly put forward is the fact that we would be doing the same thing what he is doing if we knew the guy. Heck, if I knew the guy personally responsible for the accident I would be even uncomfortable about the fact that there is a complete thread going on discussing one SINGLE accident amongst hundreds.

Personally, its really obvious that the car was doing speeds of at least 60-80 to have that kind of damage and that by itself is a mistake by the driver and hence he has to be criminally convicted for the death no matter what! But that's the ideal side of the story. Realistically, will he or his family, friends let it happen? It's an obvious BIG NO!! I am no different; if my brother does the same thing I would be the first to do try and save him as much as possible. IN THOSE moments of desperation even I would try and use contacts/bribe etc.. Its just the way things are and things will be. People who don't agree with me have genuinely not been in such a scenario. You won't realize how fast you change your views/principles when you realize your brother/son has done something similar.

So let us all come out of the cover of situational emotions and realize that this could have happened to anybody of us and 95% of us would behave in the same manner - depending on which side we were.

There is no obvious need for the thread except to prove/support your point of views. I am in no way related or know any of the concerning parties and frankly don't care how/if the case progresses. In future if something like this happens to me or my close ones I would make sure the driver is screwed for life; or if my closed ones are at fault I will scrape my a$ trying to save them..

That's how we all are.. If you don't agree, you probably haven't realized it yet.

[iceman91]

Man oh man!, Did not expect the thread to go this way. Well since it is an open forum it does have a mixed bag like I thought.
Well there are enough + and - on this thread.

[bblost]

The tragedy in India, is not that people use influence and money to get away.
The real tragedy is that they can do it and get away.

[vikram18]

Originally Posted by bblost

The tragedy in India, is not that people use influence and money to get away.
The real tragedy is that they can do it and get away.

It happens all over the world, only the degree of influence and amount of money differs.

Since a forum member is involved, it is only natural that some very strong views will be put forward, both positive and negative.

It's very unfortunate that this incident took place, but now that it has, and since a life can't be brought back, I hope the deceased's family is well taken care of (by the courts or by settlement) and the driver learns the requisite lesson. Punishment by courts or not, I'm sure it's not at all easy knowing you've caused somebody's death. That's a very heavy cross to bear.

[f450]

Originally Posted by vikram18

It happens all over the world, only the degree of influence and amount of money differs.

Since a forum member is involved, it is only natural that some very strong views will be put forward, both positive and negative.

It's very unfortunate that this incident took place, but now that it has, and since a life can't be brought back, I hope the deceased's family is well taken care of (by the courts or by settlement) and the driver learns the requisite lesson. Punishment by courts or not, I'm sure it's not at all easy knowing you've caused somebody's death. That's a very heavy cross to bear.

Very very well said.

[star_is_here]

Whoever Mihir Dharker is.....someone was killed due to his car being driven on the road. Those guys who swear by the guy's driving skills should understand that he had not brought that Nissan to be driven at 40kmph. I have been driving for nearly 2 decades on these very Mumbai roads and I know what speeds some youngsters from call centre earning-esteem modded-in your face exhaust drive at! They would not drive above 65kmph but they don't drive staright. Their driving skill is inhibitive and petrifying to some mature drivers' as well who want to save their cars.

I am not trying to draw parallels here. Nor I am objecting to an error that could have been caused by the cyclist. But driving on the service road between Andheri and Vile-Parle cannot kill a cyclist on the spot and injure an auto driver seriously if I drive at decent speeds. Agreed, the press gives you the news they deem fit, but I urge you think and virtually simulate this in your thought if possible.

The car shown in the pic is in shambles. Not because of the accident it caused but because the bystanders lost their temperament. Now, people do not get whimsical and bludgeon a car if both the cyclist and the auto driver were irrational and if the guy in question was doing a decent speed. Right?

All said and done, a life is lost and we would pray for the a speedy recovery of the auto driver who is ailing at Cooper hospital.