Team-BHP - Accidents in India

Quote:

Originally Posted by binoym (Post 5534749)

You Should See The Other Guy

Excuse the title. This was not a bar fight but rather an appreciation post for the make and build of one manufacturer over the other.

Precisely why I wouldn’t touch a Maruti unless is the Brezza or the SCross (both are more solid than the usual Maruti’s) or even a Hyundai or Kia where safety has been compromised . Fuel efficiency be damned !

A Punch or Nexon at a slightly higher premium is well worth it despite the hiccups with customer service.

Imagine a crash at 60 KMPH , Leave alone at 100 or a scenario where the car toppled !! Absulotely horrific with no chance of survival for the passengers. Hope the Indian Govt. makes a bare minimum safety mandatory instead of mandating more airbags.

Quote:

Originally Posted by charanreddy (Post 5535432)

A Punch or Nexon at a slightly higher premium is well worth it despite the hiccups with customer service.

To be fair, I think most cars would have had almost the same fate as Baleno. That is clearly an illegal mod on the Thar. That bumper definitely is not fiber or anything that conforms to pedestrian safety norms. Nexon or Punch may have an advantage because of the higher bonnet line. That's about it. I think an Altroz would have faced similar damages to that Baleno. It hit a cast iron bumper at an awkward angle, that is no less than hitting a stationary metal barrier.

Just open the hood of any Maruti built on heartech platform and see the fenders from inside. There is no supporting structures, it's just like a thin cover placed on tiny leg supports. Your tress roof will have better supports by the way.

So in the event of a collision it will be safe and have lower damages only if you hit it in the centre, offset it from the centre crash bar you total front end will be gone.

Bashing the Thar for an off-road bumper is a little too overboard. And by the way it's not a cast iron bumper, it's a metal bumper made with 1.5mm thick metal sheet and usually weighs about 20kg.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binoym (Post 5534749)

You Should See The Other Guy

My driver was on his way back from my son’s class. He was trying to navigate a narrow lane where a Thar was reversing into a parking space on the street. It seems that both cars didn’t stop in time and the Baleno drove into a Thar head on at what was apparently 20 kmph. (The Thar being almost stationary as it was backing into a spot). The Thar seems to have a modified front bumper, but when I saw my Baleno (I wasn’t in the car at the time), I thought the accident was at a much higher speed. The Thar as you see has a scratch. Quite literally ONE scratch while the Baleno is smashed in.

@binoym you missed one point there, the Thar is fitted with an aftermarket front bumper which is made of metal and generally used in vehicles for off-roading (to improve the approach angle). The front bumper like in your Baleno is meant to crumple to absorb the impact and it isn't necessarily a case of poor build quality. Had the Thar had a factory fitted bumper, the same would have happened on it too. The only difference would have happened on the sheet metal part (Baleno getting more bruised and Thar getting a nick to put it in simple terms :)).

In my opinion you should get hold of the Thar owner here for the after-market bumper installed, it is a safety hazard to cars and pedestrians alike. Finally coming back to your case, yes the Baleno model you have has a very poor build quality. The sheet metal is wafer thin and over time it gather a ton of dings and dents easily. So I would suggest you should consider replacing it with a better and much safer car even if it is just used as a beater.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binoym (Post 5534749)

I only fear what would’ve happened if this was 60kmph? Luckily there was no family in the car at this time. The drives of both cars are safe. Not sure, how I felt sending the Baleno to the workshop this morning - But it’s days are numbered. I get that the Thar is a rugged unbreakable beast. But most Mahindra cars rate high on the GNCAP. Even the Tata Punch rated high. I will buy a Tata or a Mahindra before I get a Maruti again - both accessible, home grown brands.

Glad to know that everyone is safe.

This leads to a question - is GNCAP rating the primary reference for measuring how sturdy the car is? How do I compare the sheet metal of a Baleno vs Altroz vs i10 vs Amaze?

Asking since my sister is exploring cars in this segment.

Imagine the flip side where the modified Thar gets in a frontal collision with a larger vehicle with a metal body which is basically any truck or bus plying on our roads. The occupants of the Thar would be subject to a bone jarring collision with almost all the impact passing through to the occupants. Since the crumple zone wouldn’t be of much use here and neither would airbags deploy properly. So any owner who makes alteration to the vehicle with bull bars and such also have to face the consequences. It’s not like they get to damage smaller vehicles at no cost.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raj4466 (Post 5535459)

Bashing the Thar for an off-road bumper is a little too overboard. And by the way it's not a cast iron bumper, it's a metal bumper made with 1.5mm thick metal sheet and usually weighs about 20kg.

Will assume credence for all your inputs.
Just one question, though.
Was the Thar off-road?

Quote:

Originally Posted by binoym (Post 5534749)

You Should See The Other Guy

Excuse the title. This was not a bar fight but rather an appreciation post for the make and build of one manufacturer over the other.

Binoym,
Unless you shy away from publicity or getting attention, if you post these photos in twitter , tag the mumbai police and maruti, I think it will go viral and eventually Mumbai police will notice the absurdity of aftermarket modifications on Thar. You might even end up doing a great service to humanity around you :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhishekjoshi84 (Post 5534824)

Not absolving Maruti of their faults in not focussing on build and safety of their cars, but I think most cars would not have fared much better in this scenario. Looking at the custom bumper on the Thar, it looks like cast iron? Definitely a hard/strong thick material. The fact that the scratch in material is deep and there is zero deformity around it means that it not fiber/sheet metal. This would be like a corner of one's car hitting a tall concrete pavement (Thar would be close to 1.8 Tons).

I hope cops enforce the rules around bull bars and custom bumpers like these more strictly, these can easily kill or maim a pedestrian at even 15kmph.

Very true. It was exactly a fear of this, why I removed my off-roading bumpers on my Thar Crde. They can be bolted on, if and when needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binoym (Post 5534749)

I get that the Thar is a rugged unbreakable beast. But most Mahindra cars rate high on the GNCAP. Even the Tata Punch rated high.

The Thar seems to have an aftermarket non crash tested/certified, solid steel fabrication bumper. You could have the same thing on your car, mounted on directly on the ladder frame chassis (if the Baleno had one in dreams) and then this would be apples to apples.

Do not worry about your car being less strong in this rigged boxing game. It’s the other guy’s mod that is the culprit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankk (Post 5535561)

Will assume credence for all your inputs.
Just one question, though.
Was the Thar off-road?

Definitely was not.
But it's not legal in India because our laws are retarded. Check out places like Australia where these bumpers are legal.

And they do have these laws on safety and vehicle fitness implemented in a better way. When we are still waiting for the government mandated crash test which is getting postponed every year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axe77 (Post 5535395)

Seems like there were apparently 3 accidents in a space of 2 hours in the night within a 1.5 km distance. All of them involving heavy vehicles. While everyone is focused on speed cams, we really do need stringent regulation of the road worthiness of heavy vehicles plying our highways. These are regularly causing serious accidents.
...

4 killed, 22 injured after truck hits bus on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Pune

https://indianexpress.com/article/ci...uries-8570932/

What's with trucks & failing brakes. On 6th April'23 (exactly the day after Slavia/Virtus were declared the safest cars in India), at Nanthoor Junction in Mangalore, I was waiting at the signal (it was red). A truck rammed into my Slavia, which led my car hit the Maruti ahead. The truck driver claimed that he pressed the brakes, yet the vehicle wasn't stopping, suspecting a brake failure. On impact, we felt a jerk, & thought that this would be a slight bump. But the damages were quite huge. Repairs' estimates have taken it to 3L.