[gd1418]

I don't know how & where to start. The heart is still aching and I'm irritable & snappy. The family and my son in particular bore the brunt of my anger yesterday. Let me explain.

My Safari was undergoing a major suspension overhaul for the last three days and job was completed yesterday at the same FNG where The Bull also goes. It was time to bring the senior & older Bull back home.

Now, for sometime I've been letting my son Anshu drive the Scorpio; the last being my trip to Jodhpur. So, when it was time to drop the Safari at the FNG, Anshu followed the Safari in the Scorpio. He had done so once earlier too.

Yesterday was no different. Anshu was behind me in the Scorpio. Those who know Gurgaon layout will now understand the location & the scenario. I stay in DLF Phase V. Till the Gold souk everything was alright. Just after crossing the souk, there is a left turn towards my building. But I had to fill diesel. So I drove straight and Anshu took a left turn instead of following me. First mistake. Me livid.

After crossing the signal and not seeing the Scorpio in the RVM, I stopped and called him on his cell. first time he did not pick-up. I'm more livid. The
second time I call he picked up and said - "I'm involved in a accident". My
heart sank. Thanks to the daily dose of gralic and lots of ogling, I survived.

Immediately turned around and rushed. At an intersection near Paras Hospital, I found The Bull perched on the 1.5 feet high divider, the HLs blazing, right side Bull bar twisted out and the Rallye 3000 Hellas broken. Also a call centre Indica parked on the side of the road.

After initial verbal outburst and shouting at Anshu, asked as to how this
happened. His version - "After I turned left towards home, was going staright when your call came. I assumed that you wanted me tot ake a U turn. Took a proper U-turn and suddenly a cycle rickshaw cut across. To save I swerved and the Indica that was coming straight scraped, twisting the Bull bar & breaking the Hellas. And then the Scorpio climbed the divider".

Now the last part is what I can't fathom. In panic, instead of brakes must've pressed the Accelarator. Or else it would be difficult to jump over the 1.5 feet divider. Well, called FNG immediately. He came pronto with his three boys and a hydraulic jack and 'ghodi'. Jacked up the vehicle to raise it to the divider's level, put blocks of stone beneath the wheel and brought down the vehicle on the road. Thankfully none were injured and it wasn't a police case also. Indica's front left was damaged and there were scratches on the left rear. His claim was settled then and there for Rs.2000/- and FNG took a test run of the vehicle. According to him there wasn't any damage but he asked me to bring the vehicle in
the morning for thorough inspection and removal of the dmaged part.

I was supposed to take the family out for dinner last night but that was
cancelled as I was in a foul mood. We will go today..













Bull went to FNG in the morning, the damaged bull bar and the lights were
removed and ramped up for underbody inspection. No damage at all. Then went to DK immediately for a check up of alignment. Alignment perfect. Mood improved upto 98%. Went next door to Batra Car Care who is my car accessories guy. Placed order for another set of Rallye 3000 and a new bull bar.

Mood 100%.

[.anshuman]

I am surprised to see no damage to the Bull, I feel bad for the bull bar and the Hellas. How about trying Lightforce this time?

[Nikhilb2008]

Really sorry to hear about it! And on behalf of sons who screw up their dads' prized possesions, I feel for your son as well.

Few things are worse than the feeling a relatively new driver gets when he screws up his dad's car.

Luckily the damage is somewhat minor and your car can be brought back to the original condition. Also, glad to know nothing happened to Anshu or anyone else on the road.

[SS-Traveller]

Commiserations on the Scorpio needing a minor nose job on the first day of the year. The Hellas seem ok as far as the reflectors and glass go, just the base has sheared off - nothing a spot of Araldite and self-cured acrylic won't cure. So why buy new Hellas when a visit to the dentist can do the job?

No, I won't bill you for it!

[aaggoswami]

1) Very sorry to see Scorpio in that state. But bad things do happen. Sometimes, one just cant can help the case.

2) I realize that I am much younger than you GD1418, but would take some liberty here. Please note that this is just my opinion and no harsh feeling for anyone.

Panic, tension and pressure. These things lead to trouble big time. I think that your son might be trying to be over cautious so as not to get any scratch on the car. I have the same feeling. I am always over cautious and end up in tension not to get a single scratch on the car. Also the pressure of " what will be dad's reaction " is high.
I think these things pressurized him more than anything.

I appreciate the fact that he did not take call while he was driving. After watching your call, he must have had some sort of pressure like " I made a mistake ", may be that's why this accident happened. Although a small thing for most of us, if somebody has learnt driving recently and not experienced enough, this pressure exists.

3) A few things about accidents.

a) Accent tail lights not working lead to one accident in our Baleno. That was not my dad's fault but still this happened.
One word of caution. The tail lights of cars and bikes in South-West Gujarat ( area of Somnath, etc. ) do not work. One has to be cautious. Head on bike collosions on roads more than 10 mtrs. wide. Learnt the hard way round.

b) A Scorpio rear ended me while I was trying to take a turn, a biker came in on wrong side and I had to save him.

In both the situation, its all but bad luck.

Sorry if my feelings offend anyone.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Few things are worse than the feeling a relatively new driver gets when he screws up his dad's car.

.

How can you write something like this, The man must not be expecting this kind of response, Tell me who do we earn for?

GD1418's concern is right, and i am sure its not just for the car but also for the tension and anxiety he must have gone through when he herd his son met with an accident without knowing what to expect and those moments when he must have been praying that all should be well must have been really long. I remember when i was a kid and i went missing after going out playing. It was about 7:00 PM during winters in Delhi and was really dark, my dad came in search of me to find me throwing stones at my kite entangled on a tree. He picked up a small stick to teach me a lesson but i was a better athlete than him so managed to run and hid behind my grand mother before getting beaten up . This completely changed my relationship with him. I used to be scared of him and when ever he used to call me i used to go and hid behind my mom or grand mom. I was very young, must have been 4-5, but this would have affected me in a different way if i would have been little older. I would have turned into a rebel.

A father son relationship is the most beautiful relationship. and GD1418, will vouch for this, he must be very happy when his son first drove the car himself.

As far as the damage goes there is nothing which insurance cannot pay for, Lets hope your bull comes out of the workshop even better, As far as junior is concerned, Tell him its ok and you are happy that he is safe and you were upset because you were concerned of his safety, trust me he will be the happiest son in the world.

Happy fathering and happy motoring.


Just my 2 cents, i hope this will be taken positively.

Pramod

[Nikhilb2008]

Pramod, I simply dont understand what is there in my post you disagree with. You seem to be posting something totally irrelevant to the content in my post. I totally feel for GD, but I'm 23 and I've been driving for only one and a half years and I dont have my own car. Every time I drive, it is someone else's. Trust me to know the feeling when you screw up. I'm not saying that GD shouldnt feel bad! That's just ridiculous! But I was just presenting the other side as well.

[gd1418]

First of all, thank you all guys for showing concern. Anshuman, what more did you want? ha ha ha

Originally Posted by .anshuman

I am surprised to see no damage to the Bull, I feel bad for the bull bar and the Hellas. How about trying Lightforce this time?

Except the Bull bar and the broken Hellas there is no other damage to the truck, fortunately. I also too banged my Granddad's Landmaster in '73 when I was polishing my skills. The trunk suffered a dent when I reversed into a pole. Got the thrashing of my life. I didn't do anything of that sort to Anshu, though he got a severe verbal lashing.

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Really sorry to hear about it! And on behalf of sons who screw up their dads' prized possesions, I feel for your son as well.

Few things are worse than the feeling a relatively new driver gets when he screws up his dad's car.

Luckily the damage is somewhat minor and your car can be brought back to the original condition. Also, glad to know nothing happened to Anshu or anyone else on the road.

Thanks Doc, but somehow I can't live with repaired unit. That always works in the back of my mind. But shall keep your offer in abeyance and for the future..

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Commiserations on the Scorpio needing a minor nose job on the first day of the year. The Hellas seem ok as far as the reflectors and glass go, just the base has sheared off - nothing a spot of Araldite and self-cured acrylic won't cure. So why buy new Hellas when a visit to the dentist can do the job?

No, I won't bill you for it!

Goswami: Thank you for your suggestions but there was no panic, pressure or tension on Anshu. He had done that before as well. I would rather attribute to plain bad luck. And no offence at all..

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) Very sorry to see Scorpio in that state. But bad things do happen. Sometimes, one just cant can help the case.

2) I realize that I am much younger than you GD1418, but would take some liberty here. Please note that this is just my opinion and no harsh feeling for anyone.

Panic, tension and pressure. These things lead to trouble big time. I think that your son might be trying to be over cautious so as not to get any scratch on the car. I have the same feeling. I am always over cautious and end up in tension not to get a single scratch on the car. Also the pressure of " what will be dad's reaction " is high.
I think these things pressurized him more than anything.

I appreciate the fact that he did not take call while he was driving. After watching your call, he must have had some sort of pressure like " I made a mistake ", may be that's why this accident happened. Although a small thing for most of us, if somebody has learnt driving recently and not experienced enough, this pressure exists.

3) A few things about accidents.

a) Accent tail lights not working lead to one accident in our Baleno. That was not my dad's fault but still this happened.
One word of caution. The tail lights of cars and bikes in South-West Gujarat ( area of Somnath, etc. ) do not work. One has to be cautious. Head on bike collosions on roads more than 10 mtrs. wide. Learnt the hard way round.

b) A Scorpio rear ended me while I was trying to take a turn, a biker came in on wrong side and I had to save him.

In both the situation, its all but bad luck.

Sorry if my feelings offend anyone.

As I mentioned, there is no damage at all to the car. The bull bar and the Hellas, that are accessories, have been damaged. They are replaceable. I indeed was very happy when Anshu drove for the first time.

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

How can you write something like this, The man must not be expecting this kind of response, Tell me who do we earn for?

GD1418's concern is right, and i am sure its not just for the car but also for the tension and anxiety he must have gone through when he herd his son met with an accident without knowing what to expect and those moments when he must have been praying that all should be well must have been really long. I remember when i was a kid and i went missing after going out playing. It was about 7:00 PM during winters in Delhi and was really dark, my dad came in search of me to find me throwing stones at my kite entangled on a tree. He picked up a small stick to teach me a lesson but i was a better athlete than him so managed to run and hid behind my grand mother before getting beaten up . This completely changed my relationship with him. I used to be scared of him and when ever he used to call me i used to go and hid behind my mom or grand mom. I was very young, must have been 4-5, but this would have affected me in a different way if i would have been little older. I would have turned into a rebel.

A father son relationship is the most beautiful relationship. and GD1418, will vouch for this, he must be very happy when his son first drove the car himself.

As far as the damage goes there is nothing which insurance cannot pay for, Lets hope your bull comes out of the workshop even better, As far as junior is concerned, Tell him its ok and you are happy that he is safe and you were upset because you were concerned of his safety, trust me he will be the happiest son in the world.

Happy fathering and happy motoring.


Just my 2 cents, i hope this will be taken positively.

Pramod

Nikhil, I understand your position pretty well...

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Pramod, I simply dont understand what is there in my post you disagree with. You seem to be posting something totally irrelevant to the content in my post. I totally feel for GD, but I'm 23 and I've been driving for only one and a half years and I dont have my own car. Every time I drive, it is someone else's. Trust me to know the feeling when you screw up. I'm not saying that GD shouldnt feel bad! That's just ridiculous! But I was just presenting the other side as well.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by gd1418

...somehow I can't live with repaired unit. That always works in the back of my mind. But shall keep your offer in abeyance and for the future..

@ GD: Buy yourself a couple of new Hellas, and repair the old ones as well - check out their performance afterwards, and you can have 4 lamps instead of two that way!

[gd1418]

Seems a very good idea though. Have retained the old broken Hellas. They will double up as spares...

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

@ GD: Buy yourself a couple of new Hellas, and repair the old ones as well - check out their performance afterwards, and you can have 4 lamps instead of two that way!

[ashthedivx]

Sad to see such state of THE BULL. However, I would second what Nikhil said and would vouch for better relationship rather than better car/suv.

Originally Posted by gd1418

Seems a very good idea though. Have retained the old broken Hellas. They will double up as spares...

However, Also if the internal filament is OK then you should try sourcing outer casing of the hellas. They should be easily available in Kashmere gate.

[gd1418]

The internal filament is ok, glass intact and not even a scratch. The outer casing is not available...

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

Sad to see such state of THE BULL. However, I would second what Nikhil said and would vouch for better relationship rather than better car/suv.

However, Also if the internal filament is OK then you should try sourcing outer casing of the hellas. They should be easily available in Kashmere gate.

[gd1418]

The new Hellas Rallye 3003 and the new Bull Bar arrived yesterday. Shall be fitted on Wednesday.

The first look:

[Captdey]

Bullbar looks quite pretty ,
Is it a product of Hella ?
or somebody else.

Cheers

[gd1418]

Nyet, nyet Capt. The Bullbar is a local make..

Originally Posted by Captdey

Bullbar looks quite pretty ,
Is it a product of Hella ?
or somebody else.

Cheers