Sister's Maruti Ciaz hits a bus head-on; no major injuries

A KSRTC bus which rammed another car from the rear and swerved to the opposite lane to hit this Ciaz head on, fishtailing it.

BHPian balenoed_ recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, had to report an accident in this thread that happened to one of our family members. This happened to my sister and family two weeks ago while they were traveling from one of the southern KL districts to way north and accident occurred in Kollam district. BIL was driving the 5-year old Ciaz, sister in front and two children at the back.

A KSRTC bus which rammed another car from the rear and swerved to the opposite lane to hit this Ciaz head on, fishtailing it, and veered off the road. The passengers of the first car the bus hit had serious injuries. In fact, that car was the root cause. They merged to the road from a petrol pump without noticing the KSRTC bus which was also going in the same direction. The bus which was probably over speeding & rammed that car from behind and got on to the opposite lane and hit the Ciaz which was going on the opposite lane. And thanks to the notorious single carriage way NH66 in KL, the margins are nil.

Now coming to the occupants of Ciaz, none of them were injured. They just got out of the car after initial shock. Sister had minor body pain, BIL had absolutely nothing and children at the back too were fine. Front passengers were belted. Rear passengers were not, but they were alerted when the first crash happened and held the front seat while seeing the bus coming towards them. So they were prepared, hence spared. Seat belts saves lives!

Overall, a lucky escape in what otherwise would have been serious. While we see the usual bashing on Maruti's build quality, here is an example of how probably a well designed crumple zone saved the occupants. Sister and family believe the car saved them and hence want to keep the car. I also love this car as I have also driven it numerous times. The car is getting repaired at a cost of Rs 1.5 Lakhs (I am not sure how it is so less) and will be back on the road in another couple of weeks.

Here's what BHPian setuniket had to say on the matter:

As a fellow Ciaz owner, it is heartening to see that the car took the impact well and didn’t pass it on. However I am not comfortable with the idea of repairing the car which has taken such significant impact. No amount of repair is going to restore its original structure. It would be advisable to write off this car and replace with new/pre owned model.

Here's what BHPian sarathlal had to say on the matter:

Saddened to see this, but at the same time happy to know that you are all safe and the beloved car did its part very well!

Truly understand the emotional quotient with the car and dread to think of what you and family might have gone through.

Totally respecting your thought process and apologies if this sounds insensitive, but with that in context, personally think it might not be a good idea to repair the car that has taken a frontal impact of that magnitude. As its factory built, structural integrity might have been compromised and the repairs might cosmetically hide the resulting imperfections.

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