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Old 11th June 2010, 02:31   #46
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My take on this incident - it is a road accident. And such accidents are caused by the fault of at least one of the involved party, though it usually involves mistakes from all involved. We can point fingers at each and everyone involved in the incident, but I dont think that would be of any help.

Am sure @hemanth.das and friends have realized their mistakes and have learnt from it.
We can never be sure if the others involved in the crash even realized, leave alone learning, from their mistakes. For all we know they would be thinking I stopped to help a motorist involved in a mishap, and I got rammed...
We can be sure that the enforcement authorities will not give a hoot and, like someone said, take this as another road accident in their useless statistics taking.

We (at least most of us) exceed the 80 KMPH speed limit - especially in roads like the GQ. It is dangerous, illegal, our highways are not fenced, and the drivers on our roads are not disciplined or even sensible. Yet we still do it.
But the learning here should be to ensure that the driver is in absolute control of the car - that he / she can stop / move out of the obstacle's path however short the distance to impact is - if you are not that sure, SLOW DOWN.
If you cannot see what's up ahead clearly, SLOW DOWN.
Always try to see what is ahead of the vehicle / obstacle that is in front of your car - this would give you precious moments to react in high speed emergencies. If you cannot see what is out there, SLOW DOWN!
Do not drive at high speeds directly in the path of vehicle going in the front. Try to move to the left / right to see what is up ahead. If you cannot do that, SLOW DOWN

All the SLOW DOWNs does not necessarily imply step on the brakes, but more on the lines of ease the right leg!

@hemanth.das mentioned a driver change - I prefer to do highway runs, especially night runs single handedly. And if it is my car, I drive. If it is another friend's, he / she drives. Period.
Each car behaves differently, and none else than the regular user knows that. If I sit in a different car, even if it is one I have used a lot but yet is not my regular car, and if I speed off then am plain dumb - it would take quite a while to understand the machine.

I can go on and on about safety, but we already know what I mean

@hemanth.das - Thank your stars that nothing worse happened. Looks like your guardian angel kept up with your speeds, maybe she was (in) the car! Hope you will strap on the seat belt next time you sit - in any of the seats - in a car, and go easy on the right leg. Someone here in the forum has Do not travel faster than your Guardian Angel can fly as their signature - now you know what that fellow member meant!

The first feeling I got when I drove a Palio was built like a tank. And it was deja vu when I drove a Punto. Fiat has indeed saved you guys from what could have been a lot worse. If the structure of the car is damaged (which looks like the case), better scrap it and get another one - a Fiat again at that!

Last edited by ph03n!x : 11th June 2010 at 02:35.
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Old 11th June 2010, 02:37   #47
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Maybe the Bangy boys would remember an incident late last year that was reported in the local newspapers. Bangalore East, the railway line below the Lingarajpuram flyover, there was one couple in a Fiat product dont remember if it was Palio or Uno who were trying to cross the unmanned level crossing when all of a sudden a train barreled round the corner and dragged their car for 50 meters or so before depositing it on the side of the tracks. Occupants suffered minor injuries only, they walked away from the scene of the accident. They have Fiat to thank for their lives.

Does anyone remember this?
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Old 11th June 2010, 02:41   #48
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@DJANGO - I vividly remember this incident, even remember the photos. Am sure it is somewhere here in the forum too.
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Old 11th June 2010, 08:33   #49
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@hemanth.das reading in detail about your case I feel your driver was at fault. Simply there is no way you can't stop a car in 300mts even at 100kmph, heck even a truck can be stopped without burning rubber.

You guys are extremely lucky and those in other cars are fortunate too to escape with minor injuries.
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Old 11th June 2010, 10:13   #50
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I thank everyone for their kind words and gestures.

Yes I am not blaming the indica compltely i agree we may be at fault or we are at fault. Precautions will be taken hence forth yes it was a very dangerous learning experience.

There have been lot of lessons learnt due to this accident for me.

Yes i remember the train crashing into the car in bangalore. It was a Palio agian. And the occupants had a write up in the paper thanking the makers and the car.
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Old 11th June 2010, 10:33   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nairrk View Post
YOu still managed to take some photographs (the accident happened at 03:15am and you were on the spot all the time till the morning- the photos shows that it was taken in a day light as the clarity is good).?
That is what surprises me too.

Good job there hemanth.
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Old 11th June 2010, 10:52   #52
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The pictures were taken in the morning after sunrise after things were cleared up say arround 11 a.m or so.

The accident happened on the salem karur by pass

Last edited by hemanth.das : 11th June 2010 at 10:56. Reason: spelling mistake
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Old 11th June 2010, 11:00   #53
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Since there was no other vehicle in front of you (moving) which could block your view, how could you guys not spot the obstacle on the road?
Thank God as many times as you can. Even convertibles which topple a few times come out un-scathed. With manufacturers in a race to create the cheapest cars, hope safety is not compromised.

Last edited by srishiva : 11th June 2010 at 11:02.
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Old 12th June 2010, 00:00   #54
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the palio has taken the beating well.
The Palio is known to have rather underpowered brakes and no abs also so its difficult in such situations.
regardless of what people say, the palio loaded with 4 people and considering the fact that it was night , the max speeds that could be approached safely is 90-120. which many people drive at even though it is above the speed limit.
it is difficult even for person driving at the speed limit to suddenly steer away from obstacles.

Im yet to see a person who sticks to 80(which i think is the speed limit on Highways) constantly throughout the journey and i agree it is hard to do so on 4-6 laned super smooth roads. So dont be hard on yourself regarding this incident .

IMO take the replacement option as the palio will never be the same again after the repairs.
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Old 12th June 2010, 12:34   #55
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to my dear fellow members,
i think it is a common practice for people not involved in an accident, to unabashedly point out the mistake of the defaulter, in this case, hemant das's friend in an accident..

an accident is exactly what it says, an accident.
it means an error in judgment, a mistake, something that was not supposed to happen..
it can be anybody's fault.
but when you know the person who is narrating is at fault, i felt it is unfair to come down on him for his mistake. i mean he clearly has understood where he went wrong, whether he admits it or not is another issue, but he definitely knows it himself.

and i applaud hemant das to admit it was so..

to sum up what i have learnt from here is:
always expect the car in front of you to do something fishy,
in that way ur always alert to what could wrong

hemant das, i as well as u urself may have learnt a lesson, albeit the hard way..
move on, you are only wiser as u drive on the highways..
take care
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Old 15th June 2010, 10:19   #56
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Even if a person is high on nicotine and caffeine, if you are driving for a long time and esp. at night, a person is prone to microsleep. Though the driver was looking straight ahead, he might have lapsed into a microsleep along with the unreasonably high speed(which most of them have already identified) was a sure shot for disaster. The only saving grace here is the car and the guardian angel.

One of my friend is doing a short documentary about road accidents in India. Once he completes that I'll see if I can post it here. The accident which he covered is very horrific, just to hear!
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Old 15th June 2010, 13:26   #57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hemanth.das View Post
TATA motots gave a quote of 2.5 lac for repair.. insurance co. gave us option of repair or replace.
The car has done it's duty well. Let it go. Get another one.
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Old 15th June 2010, 13:48   #58
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And make sure its a FIAT again. But should I say so? After the way it saved you all I think it will be FIAT only if you go for a replacement.
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Old 15th June 2010, 13:56   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJANGO View Post
Maybe the Bangy boys would remember an incident late last year that was reported in the local newspapers. Bangalore East, the railway line below the Lingarajpuram flyover, there was one couple in a Fiat product dont remember if it was Palio or Uno who were trying to cross the unmanned level crossing when all of a sudden a train barreled round the corner and dragged their car for 50 meters or so before depositing it on the side of the tracks. Occupants suffered minor injuries only, they walked away from the scene of the accident. They have Fiat to thank for their lives.

Does anyone remember this?
Hi, its a palio and you can go through the details at the thread below http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...lio-palio.html .
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Old 15th June 2010, 14:34   #60
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Are the skid marks on the road made by Palio?
if it is then Palio was not on the fast land which the Indica was blocking. So you did have one open lane to steer the car to? Also the skid marks are short for the speeds that the forum members believe your car was doing. So either the speed was less or you have very little reaction time. I am assuming a car undergoing panic braking would lock up the wheels immediately, if it does not have ABS.
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