[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by notjustshrawan

Won't the driver detect the problem early?

not if it was just out of a service and something was not installed right. just speculating here.

[anainar]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

Mpower, I am thinking they may have been doing speeds high enough to get under the trailer, trailer may have been be doing safe speed possible on that stretch. If they were testing after service, speeding and braking is part of testing. May be the brakes/steering mechanism failed?

Speeding and braking are part of testing.But does it have to be done with a huge trailer in the front? It is like testing the strength of the neck by putting it in guillotine. That is stupidity if that is what they were doing. The expressway will have enough empty stretches for them test with safety.

Doors getting jammed is a distinct possibility. But for a car worth 70lacs, doors should be safe enough to open in case of an accident, by crumbling in the middle.

But a sad news for sure. Which ever car you drive, safety is of paramount importance. Dont ever believe any ad saying "We build the safest Cars". No car is safe, unless safety norms are followed.

Nainar

[ramkya1]

Was talking to someone in the know today...

The car hit the rear axle of the trailer, the real axle casing and harness were broken in the impact, speed should have been between 150-180 is the gustimate. The driver, co-driver, rear right passengers were dead on impapct, the rear left passenger was alive, was talking on phone to people to help him out, he was waving to the people on the road to help him out, people were scared by the explosion and the fire, NOBODY came near the car to help him, he hit the glass, it did not break, he had a horrible death, may his soul rest in peace.

The explosion was from the battery, it shorted and exploded and the PETROL caught fire. The A pillar was bent way back, the B pillar was also bent backwards, even if door was electronically open, it was jammed tight, no chance of opening it from inside.

The window glass are 1 inch thick, so breaking it open with anything ordinary was impossible. It would need a pointed heavy hit to break it open, if there was sun control film on the car, even that would be more difficult.

Due to some technical reasons, insurance has been denied for this case............ can't say more.

--------

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

The window glass are 1 inch thick, so breaking it open with anything ordinary was impossible. It would need a pointed heavy hit to break it open, if there was sun control film on the car, even that would be more difficult.

this could have helped?


Amazon.com: ResQMe, The Keychain Version of the Original LifeHammer (Black): Automotive

YouTube - ResQMe

[Thad E Ginathom]

That looks like a pocket version of an automatic centre-punch with tip cover. Seems to work the same way. Now I see that video, I can understand what I was told about those tools being a car thief's delight. A thief with one of those on his keyring has one key for his car, and one key for everybody else's!

I'm incredulous about the one-inch glass! I've heard of very-high-end cars being double-glazed, mostly for sound insulation. Otherwise, except for some special weapons-proof mod, I just can't imagine a car with an inch slab of glass. Enlightment please?

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

...I'm incredulous about the one-inch glass! ...

I am guessing that was not meant to be taken too literally. Just an indicative figure to stress the point that the glass will not be flimsy thin.

Hope that is enlightenment enough .

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I'm incredulous about the one-inch glass! I've heard of very-high-end cars being double-glazed, mostly for sound insulation. Otherwise, except for some special weapons-proof mod, I just can't imagine a car with an inch slab of glass. Enlightment please?

There is no way that any vehicle can have one inch thick glass unless its for bulletproofing. I've seen and have been driven around in a 7 and the glass is definitely not 1 inch thick.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thank you Blue Thunder and quickdraw... now I feel silly for having taken that literally!

Still... with a big BMW, anything might be possible!

[007]

Horrible.....!

why cant we practice cautious driving .....rather than blaming car manufacturers.

Its always better to be safe than regret (....If at all you get the chance).

Always rember sombody is waiting for you at home..!

[Lightning2]

Hi BHPians (especially vivekiny2k ,Sn1p3r, Ramkya1)

1. Various Incidents mentioned here can be Discussed Exhaustively from various angles like Technical, Personal, Legal, Administrative etc

2. Thanks for uncommon tips & advices like carrying Fire Extinguisher , Small hammer ,Files

3. But I'd suggest BHPians & ( Indians moreso) to TAKE IT EASY wrt Accidents ,Mishaps , unruly , fault traffic and so on, because this is INDIA

4 . In India laws & Legal Acts, Procedures are decades Old and remain Unattended

5. LAW ENFORCEMENT in India is almost NIL in most Departments be it Forest, Police, Excise, Food, Energy etc etc


6. so when in India
a. TAKE IT EASY
b. first SAVE YOUR HEAD

, but pls Try to spead Goodness by being as Good as Possible

7. Lastly WRT Vehicle usage

A. Blow Horn /Flash light generously , this will assure Your Presence ,Location, Speed ,Direction to other drivers

B. Don't overspeed wrt "Road & Traffic" Condition .
25KMPH may be too high at certain situation, while 125KMPH may Not be high at certain scenarios

C. Don't drive "Fast" on Roads which you don't visit Regularly

( since U may not be aware of Road condition, Unruly Traffic, Pedestrains, Blind Entry Exits etc)
While You remain aware of each & every pothole , Bumps, speed breakers, dividers etc of Roads which You visit regularly

Originally Posted by Sn1p3r

It is sad to see such accidents. That said, we can only talk about it. Authorities do not take any action to prevent such a thing.

I feel that there are too many assumptions here, had there been any survivors the true story would have emerged. Pedestrians have subconscious assumption to over estimates speeds, car company will point out driver mistake or stress people to upgrade their cars with security and safety features in their new gen cars. Transport authorities will never blame anyone, they call this as freak accident. After a while all will be back to same thing, few will speed, few will get hurt, more die and government will import old gen passive technology and make mindless use to keep people happy.

All in all, our roads infra (Tarmac + design + road side assistance + trauma centers) are not good to take 100+ speeds, no matter what car you are on.

I was doing 140+ when a jumping bull came on the highway and was charging towards the oncoming traffic, dodge it to see a tractor-trolley trying full throttle to jump the road divider, then came truckers/bikers/UVs trying to avoid a long you U-turn on the main higway and to top it all they were racing amongst themselves on the wrong side. In total a normal day for them for me at 140+ too much to handle. I had to slow down to 100 in order to make preemptive decisions for the situation that might come up in a jiffy. I was not afraid as how the car was performing but I was afraid of the lack of infrastructure (Medics and trauma centers in the towns and villages I crossed).

Enthusiastic driving in India is confined to closed circuits, in Germany they built autobahns.
Few Stats...
India's road accident record 1998: 6 % of the world's road accident deaths happen
in India (while India has only 1 % of the world's road vehicles) [GBoWR]
- death and injury caused by accidents on India's roads: 1 person dies every 6
minutes; 10 are injured in the same time frame [BBC; Sep 2005]
- * India's percentage of global car population: 1% [Daily Telegraph Sep 06]
- * India's share of global car accidents: 10% [Daily Telegraph Sep 06]
- financial losses due to road traffic injuries 2005: 550 bn Rs = 3% of GDP
[BBC; Sep 2005]
Source: India statistics facts and figures | neoncarrot travelog

Please compare Autobahns:
Autobahn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Accident Evaluation).

My style: Drive as safe as you can, and enjoy life smoking rubber in a closed circuit.

[dockap]

i think this is what happened-the bike was following the truck both of them at slow speed-16 wheeler truck with railway container loaded how fast can it go that to at a curve on the road? the bmw which was speeding came around the curve on the road sees the bike and the truck and the driver accelerates to overtake and just as he was going to overtake the bike and truck the bike moved to the right lane to overtake the truck blocking the bmw causing the bmw driver to brake and loose control and skid under the slow moving trailer truck

[ambivalent_98]

That was a scary accident. Prayers for the families and friends of those who died tragically in the beemer crash.
I have seen a similar accident happen on the Mumbai Pune expressway. It was an Indica cab going towards Mumbai (I was driving in the opposite direction) and the Indica driver probably fell asleep due to exhaustion or whatever might be the reason , he hit the trailer right in front of my eyes....there was a loud crash....many of us slowed down to see that the car was stuck under the trailer which had a container on it. The driver probably felt the impact and stopped. To everyones amazement the Indica driver who was alone quickly jumped out of the open window once the trailer slowed down and leapt on the shoulder and fell unconcious. There was no death probably because the cab driver was doing 60 to 70 kph and his doors were not severly jammed and also the trailer slowed down giving him the critical window to jump out and escape relatively unhurt.
But that Beemer accident was scary. It could have been a hit at high speeds where the reaction time of the mechanic driving was not good enough....

[prnvaa]

Hi guys,

Seriously scary to read and hear about such accidents. Of course the first rule is to drive as safely as possible.

But, does it make sense to keep the car jack or lug wrench in the cabin? Will that help in breaking the windows in case of an emercengy?

~Pranav

[ambivalent_98]

@prnvaa.....
What about the shards of glass falling back ? But come to think of it being trapped in a car with thick windows is really nightmarish....even the thought of such a situation scares me....I wonder what thoughts must have gone through the minds of those people in the BMW who were trapped

[samyakmodi]

I wonder why only the BMW crashes get so much limelight!!

I am sure there are atleast a 100 people dying on the roads today because of their negligent driving or maybe because of some drunk dumper driver who is unable to understand the sudden rush of power at his disposal.

my point is why is that the press and even we people always end up giving limelight to a BMW crash?

Ideally the car's doors should have unlocked themselves (though this is a newer feature as compared to the car). but this didn't happen. has anyone wondered why? we easily say that the manufacturer is at fault. the truth is that the owner is more at fault. they buy these expensive cars but don't bother to maintain them according to the manufacturer's standards. they buy a luxury car, and want to maintain it like the fiat/amby they had couple of decades back. I am not saying that everyone does it, but I know most of them end up doing it after a couple of years.

Another point which made me think was that the driver of parsoli cars was taking a turn on the highway, while the trailer was coming in straight. Wasn't it his over-confidence that led to this mishap??

as kids we are taught how to cross the road, in teens we are caught how to take a turn, but as adults we dump it all!!
we don't bother to check who we might bump into while taking a turn. if its a poor sod, we get down from the car and give them atleast a earful of how they were at fault. we don't bother to check right-left-right while crossing the road.
if tomorrow if a guy on his atlas cycle comes and bumps into me because of my negligence....should we sit here and discuss how horribly atlas cycles are made and how one of our cousins or some distant relative had a similar experience when he was hit by a hero cycle??????