Toppled my Chevy Beat trying to avoid a jaywalker: Lessons I learnt

After the car came to rest, I took out the seat belt, switched off the ignition and came out via the front left door.

BHPian saikishor recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I learnt my lessons in a rather hard way. I was doing 70-80kmph on the Kokapet main road and a lady suddenly started to cross the road. There was a Fortuner in front of me and I saw the lady only after she crossed the Fortuner. I slammed on the brakes and steered to the right. My Beat hit the divider and toppled to the right side. After the car came to rest I took out the seat belt, switched off the ignition and came out via the front left door. I walked away unscathed, with negligible bruises on my right and left hands. The car was pushed back and we moved away within 5-10 mins and cleared the spot. No one was hurt. My buddies called a towing vehicle and the car was towed to our trusty garage.

Lessons I learnt were:

• Always, always wear a seatbelt. I would have been in the ICU if I wasn't wearing a seat belt.
• Do not overspeed. Follow speed limits at all times.
• Buy a strong and safe car. Safety ratings do matter is what I felt after my incident. Things would've been different if I was in a Hyundai-Kia or a Maruti.
• The Chevrolet Beat is a strong goddamn car. No denying this fact.

Repair cost has been estimated to be around 40-50k. We will mostly claim insurance. A pillar is still intact as per my mechanic, so we proceeded to go ahead. Thoughts on this will be appreciated.

Damage to car:

• Right front window cracked and lost.
• Front bumper totally damaged.
• A pillar damage.
• Front right door damage.
• Right ORVM broken.
• Radiator damaged.
• Right front door damaged.
• Right rear door damaged.

Drive safe peeps,

Saikishor.

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