Team-BHP - Swift Vdi Tragedy.....

Hello people,
This thread is about my experience with my swift vdi, it is real fun to be driving in the city good FE as well and maruti has a great A.S.S. i bought it in April 2009 and never used to take this car on the highway due to lack of safety features like ABS and airbags. But few days back i had to go urgently for some business to saharanpur(u.p.), it is around 180 kms from delhi. so thought of taking my swift as its drive is addictive. it was dark on the single lane highway i was driving at about 100kmph and suddenly saw a bullock cart about 15ft away stopped on the left side of the road and a truck coming towards me:Frustrati I hit the brake the wheels screeched like a motorcycles' and hit the bullock cart. the cart had a pole of about 3 ft on its back and my swift vdi did not stop hit the cart at the speed of 10kmph the pole hit the radiator grill and finally the radiator damaging it completely and the coolant began to leak.
That moment i realized that no ABS=RISK. thank god i was alone and got saved.
All swift vdi(non abs) owners do you also face the same problem with your swift as it's acceleration is superb but brakes are shady without ABS.
when i bought this car i wanted the abs model but bought it in a rush as there was 2 weeks waiting for the abs model. Now, i have made a promise to myself that i will never buy a car without ABS and other safety features.
Thus while buying a car never compromise with safety it is the most important.
Drive Safe.
Cheers.

By instinct cut gears to 3rd /2nd, and dont slam the brake- pump it. ABS, though is a very good safety feature, is not essential for safe driving.

This could be a jab- but am sure that the road you were driving in did not have a speed limit of more than 80 KMPH :)

EDIT: Just noticed you this is your first post!! Welcome aboard, drive safe!!! Let us know about the repairs' progress...

Dear Paras,

Welcome to the community!!

It is very sad to hear about your swift's accident. I am sure your car would be back in one piece as damage seems limited and is repairable.

Yes, with ABS the situation would have been different. These damn bullock carts are always a threat, with no reflectors or stickers at the rear to warn other vehicles in the night.

I would suggest you to change the stock bulbs to 100/90 immediately as this gives more visibility. Also, would suggest you to upgrade to better tyres. The stock JK radials on the VDI are absolutely useless in case of emergency.

Just one quesion. Did you tow the car to the service station? That must have been another hell of an experience.

Please do keep us posted about your repair charges.

MODS: Pl move this thread to appropriate section!

ABS wouldn't have guaranteed a better outcome. I feel it is better to avoid going over 80s on single lane highways in India. I have had scary situations on proper 2/3 lane highways. Moreover was the truck in your lane? Anyways, having ABS is good but don't blame everything on lack of ABS. It's ok. Crap happens. Take it as a lesson :). All the best.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paraskhurana (Post 1572264)

it was dark on the single lane highway i was driving at about 100kmph

That moment i realized that no ABS=RISK. thank god i was alone and got saved

Drive Safe

Please, my 2 cents. Dark, Single lane, 100kmph = Perfect recipe for untoward incidents. My safest bet would be 70~80 tops depending on the road surface condition. ABS is good, but doesn't mean you slam hard, the car just stops. Now i like your last point - Drive safe!

Also, I think better tyres in this case would have helped a lot more than just ABS. ABS is not meant to stop in a straight line. it is meant for the driver to retain control of the steering in an emergency. Sometimes, the distance taken by ABS to stop a car is more than without ABS.

Tyres can make all the difference.

+1 to Nikhil. ABS is only to help the driver to retain control of the steering during panic situation so that he can concentrate on steering out of the danger when the vehicle takes care of the pumping action.
I had never driven a ABS enabled vehicled till last month and most of the time its the pumping action which saved the vehicle from spinning. (with ABS i am yet to test)

Thanks for the warm welcome guys i am absolutely fine.
@ph03n!x the road is pretty good but you are absolutely right i was in a rush appropriate speed is 80kmph.
@flyingspur i am surely claiming insurance.
@MAS i have upgraded the bulbs already and the car was in drivable condition so i drove around 5-6 km but there was risk of engine getting ceased so i parked the car at a petrol pump, took a cab and reached saharanpur, next morning my driver went with a mechanic and radiator and got the car to saharanpur it is getting repaired there.
@pranavt you are right there brother but on the same road i was in my laura at around 120kmph and a sort of similar situation happened but the car stopped as it has abs.
@leonerd its a single lane the bullock cart was on the left side and the truck was coming towards me.
guys, i upgraded the tyres upon delivery i am using mrf zv2k 195/60 r15.
I have taken it as a lesson thanks again everyone.
CHEERS!!

Nitrous, he posted a minute before you. I guess you missed it.

He's using MRF ZV2K 195/60 R15. Not exactly great tyres! But still better than the stock simply because it 30mm wider.

It's a simple case of over speeding for the road conditions.

Paras, you cannot compare the Laura and the Swift in any way. The only way to compare is if you were doing 100 on the EXACT same stretch of road, with the bullock cart in the exact same place and with the exact amount of light. It is simply not possible to compare such things in the real world.

Now, please dont try to go out there and compare!