[raj_5004]

yea, thats true. this forum saved my driver today! this is a story which has to do a lot with the 'Live To Drive' sticker on my scorpio.

unfortunately, today my driver was driving my scorpio with me in the passenger seat & we were heading towards byculla. we reached sion & in a signal, a red wagon R broke down just in front of our car. we had no space to turn & a white qualis was right behind us. the driver of the qualis honked twice & when i looked behind, he waved with his hand to reverse the car a bit so that we could turn & proceed. i told my driver to reverse the car a bit as there was a little space between the qualis & my car. i dont know what my driver thought & instead of slowly inching the car behind, he just zoomed behind at a good speed & dashed the qualis.

i was but obvious very shocked & frustrated. the car i have been driving for 2 years without a single shunt has been carelessly hit by this idiotic man claiming to be a good driver. i got down the car & had a look at the damage. my car has little visible damage. the step on the rear bumper has a plastic covering, it has a few marks. but the qualis had a big dent on its front bumper.

i genuinely felt very sorry for that guy. anyways, we were blocking the traffic so we moved a few metres ahead & parked the car to the side of the road. the guy in the qualis was visibly upset & angry.

now comes the T-BHP part. this was our conversation-

Qualis guy: what man, you have a T-BHP sticker on your car & you drive this way???

Me: buddy, i am the T-BHP member, he is just a driver.

QG: i waved because i thought the driver driving a car with a T-BHP sticker must be a good one, how come you let such a man drive?

Me: yes i understand it our mistake. and i am sorry for that. he drives an alto & today is the first time he is driving this car. so i think thats the reason.

QG to my driver: how can you be so careless? i waved you to come behind & you just reversed your "truck" into mine without looking.....?? now who is going to pay for this?

My driver: sorry. i am very sorry. its my mistake.

QG: dont you take trials of these guys before hiring them? now i have to get this repaired at toyota. your car has no damage.

Me: no, even i have to get the foot step replaced. are you from T-BHP? whats your handle?

QG: No, i dont log in but i browse regularly. so what should i do now? who is going to pay the damage?

Me: see, i was not the one driving. you can talk to the driver & do whatever you need to do. (i was purposely merciless on the driver as i was really frustrated & angry on him)

QG: what can i ask him? this dent repair will cost as much as his 1 month's salary.

My driver: i am sorry. i dint do it on purpose.

the guy just turned around & left looking very frustrated.

i took the driver seat then.

Me: we will have to get the footstep replaced.

My driver: but the damage is not much.

Me:

My driver: we will get it repaired.

Me: NO. Talk to the Mahindra A.S.S. now & get it replaced.

My driver: But we can do it at the 35k servicing. why do it now?

Me: the odo now reads 32k, you expect me to drive with a damaged footstep for 3k kms more.

My driver: yes. we can get it repaired. such small things keep happening.

Me: (now very very angry but i cannot abuse him respecting his age) such things keep happening? PLEASE just do what i say & dont argue.

i feel it was the T-BHP sticker on my car which kept things more on a friendly level between me & the qualis guy or atleast prevented things from getting ugly.

so, Thank you T-BHP for saving my driver!

Also, Sorry T-BHP for defaming your name by this incident. I wont let that guy touch my car now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

to the qualis driver if you are reading this-
"Buddy, i am very sorry for the damage caused to your car. even though i was not the one driving, i am still half responsible for letting such a man drive the car. he is a experienced guy & has been working with us for the past 7 years. he drives an alto & he has never had a major accident. but anyways, now the damage is done. so, no point in giving explanations. even i am very upset as i am always very careful with my car & because of this driver, my car has a damaged footstep now. my sincere apologies to you. after you left, it was me who drove the car all the way to byculla & back. i wont let him touch my car now, i promise."

[Guna]

I think you got away becasue the guy was very nice (or soft) . IMHO you must have offered to pay for the damages since it was your car eventhough you were not at the wheel personally. Just my opinion.

[Thad E Ginathom]

My view too. It's nice that recognition of Team-BHP kept things friendly, but (IMHO, of course!), you should recognise that you are responsible for what your employee does in the course of his employment --- morally, at any rate, whatever the ins and outs of the law may say.

Whether you continue to employ the driver or not might depend on his history, rather than on one mistake. It might not be right to make that decision in the understandable anger of the moment.

[amitoj]

Agree with Thad.
You are not "half" responsible, but fully responsible for the actions of your driver. You should have offered to compensate the qualis guy yourself, instead of asking him to deal with your driver.

[anekho]

Interesting.

To be honest though, I think you should have offered to compensate atleast something for the qualis guy's damage. It's your car and in the end your responsible. Nice of the Qualis guy not to take anything from the driver - knowing it would take a sizable chunk of his salary.

[greenhorn]

Its your car, not your drivers. Even if he screws up, the onus is on you to pay. what's between you and your driver. settle it yourself. First when i read your response, i thought you were some irresponsible kid/teenager. You're 23, and certainly old enough to accept responsibilities and pay for things like this
apart from the apologies. pay up. there is no substitute.

Qualis guy, you were a bigger man that raj, but still, you deserve what is rightfully yours

[CliffHanger]

Raj, I feel you should have had paid the Qualis owner. This act would have been more ethical than just being sorry. In fact, this thread doesn't show any thankfulness to anyone, rather it just shows how you have unintentionally used T-bhp to get rid off what is supposed to be your mistake.

[Thad E Ginathom]

By the way, in English law it is called vicarious liability. I'll bet that the same, or equivalent, exists in Indian law?

[mkh]

Well sorry that this happened, but maybe it would not have happened if you did not have a TBHP sticker in the first place!( not that i am saying that's to blame!)
The guy was nice, that's what saved the day, must drop a note of appreciation for such people who walk away from a potentially nasty situation!
Hope the cost can be claimed from insurance

[Archish]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Its your car, not your drivers. Even if he screws up, the onus is on you to pay. what's between you and your driver. settle it yourself. First when i read your response, i thought you were some irresponsible kid/teenager. You're 23, and certainly old enough to accept responsibilities and pay for things like this
apart from the apologies. pay up. there is no substitute.

Qualis guy, you were a bigger man that raj, but still, you deserve what is rightfully yours

I have to agree even though greenhorn's words seem kind of harsh. You are the owner of the car, you were in the car, you are responsible. The title should me more like 'T-BHP saved me' instead of 'T-BHP saved my driver!'. With the traffic conditions these days, accidents are going to happen, there no way to stop, but, there is thing called 'owning up'.

The qualis guy seems to a very decent gentleman, if I were him I would have surely asked you to pay up. You deduct the amount from your driver salary later if it is his mistake.

Apologising to the qualis guy seems too late. And about not letting you driver drive the car again, how is it going to help the qaulis? Is your driver scheming to damage his car again? and but not letting your driver drive you have prevented it? Come on, you could have the decency to give him your business card and could have asked him to contact you later if you dint want to own up before your driver.

[raj_5004]

guys guys guys, let me clear some things first-

1) first of all, i NEVER said that i am not ready to pay full compensation. on the contrary, if the guy had demanded the same, i would have to pay & i am sensible enough to understand that. what i said was- "see, i was not the one driving. you can talk to the driver & do whatever you need to do" which means please talk to the driver to arrive to a mutual understanding. if you want, we can go the police station to claim insurance. else, if the guy wanted to settle bills on mutual understanding, we were ready for that. and it is but obvious that the money wont be deducted from the driver's salary.

2) secondly, i never ever used T-BHP's name to "get off easy" as greenhorn mentioned. its easy to deliver false accusations buddy. infact i never mentioned T-BHP's name or gave him any reference or my handle. i just asked his handle to know who he was. it was him who told me that how can a T-BHPian drive this way & i cleared that i am the T-BHPian & i was not driving.

3) MOST IMPORTANTLY, this driver is NOT my employee. he is my brother's company driver. so, i just cannot pay the qualis guy directly from my pocket nor can i use my company account to pay. yes, the car is mine & that is why i asked the qualis guy to talk to the driver itself because he knows HIS company's rules better & what needs to be done in such a situation. maybe if we need to pay, its my brother's company who will pay & that driver will have to call his boss to come to a conclusion.

[aargee]

I would attribute this day as "one lucky day" to Raj that you got away easily.

[klassics45]

ah come on, give him a break... He was so honest to post the fact knowing the expected comments... i like people who are honest and taking the hit rather than making up a story and showing how good they are... we know him very well and we know this is not his character... if he made a mistake, yes he did... he might be too much into the thought of teaching a lesson to the driver and missed the main subject...

Raj, move on... you know you made a mistake and you realize it... that is it... if you could find the qualis guy and pay him... great! if not just help some poor and get some relief... trust me there is nothing makes you more relieved than helping someone in need.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.

[Archish]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Me: see, i was not the one driving. you can talk to the driver & do whatever you need to do. (i was purposely merciless on the driver as i was really frustrated & angry on him) [/i]

What does this mean? You left the qualis guy with no options. It sounded like you have nothing to do with the car. It left the qualis guy with only 2 options, stop the car there and make it a police case or to drive away. I feel he took the high road and drove away.

Mate, I agree that he is not your driver, so what? Dint you ask him to drive, did he compel you and drove your car???

[sanjayc]

Just curious to know..is'nt such kind of incidences covered by insurance? If such accidents takes place, what should be the process? The party responsible for the accident should pay from him pocket and claim 3rd party insurance OR the vehicle damaged should claim repair damage from his own insurance?

Taking Raj's example, can someone explain the insurance claim process?