Originally Posted by markmytravel (Post 2582179)

Here is the turn of events as narrated by eye-witnesses. We don't know if airbags may or may not have helped in this case, but hope Merc will not compromise with lifes in future because airbags not working is a serious matter for cases where the accident is not so fierce as in most cases it can make a big difference.

On 12.11.2011, our brother, Nirmal Saraf, was driving a Mercedes S-class (claimed to be one of the most safest cars of the world), from Jaipur to Agra alone during the day. At about 12 o'clock, he met with an accident. A truck moving parallel to his car, took a sudden turn due which he had to apply sudden brakes. Unfortunately he hit the truck from the driver's side. Due to the collision the rod, ...which holds the windscreen of the car broke and hit Nirmal near the shoulder, which caused him to loose control of the car. The car hit a few kiosks on the roadside. People nearby had to cut the seat belt and somehow managed to get him out of the car and an ambulance was called to take him to the hospital. But unfortunately the doctors couldn't save our brother's precious life. Even after such a big collision only one airbag opened of the Mercedes S-class and that too of the passenger's side (left side) where as the car was hit on the driver's side. Mercedes claims that SAFETY is their utmost priority, and that they have provided 8 airbags in their S-class. Then why after such a big collision only one airbag opened and that too of left side where there was no major hit? Is selling the car more important than ensuring the security of it? We do not know what the 'S' in the name S-Class stand for, but its definitely not SAFETY.

Originally Posted by markmytravel (Post 2582316)

When the car hit the truck, it lost control, crossed the divider and ended up hitting some road side shops which resulted in maximum damage. It didn't go under the truck. As you can see from the pic, the maximum damage had been done on the driver side of the car, almost nothing is left on that side. Whereas the passenger side is pretty much intact but the airbag only deployed on the passenger side. Other question is shouldn't it be all airbags or none. Why only one airbag opened that too on the side which is not badly damaged.

I am not trying to put the blame on Merc as there are other factors too that conspired in this event (speed, truck, airbags, shops exactly where car ended... ) but then we are trying to find out if Merc has been delivering what it is promising. Is it compromising on the safety features knowing there are less chances of getting customers complaining. The news has been on many new channels but Merc hasn't come forward with an explaination on why only one Airbag was deployed.

There are many who will believe they are buying a safe car, but if the working conditions of these safety features ir compromised by manufacturer or the service center, it needs to be brought in public for benefits of others.

Originally Posted by markmytravel (Post 2581884)

My Brother in Law met with a fatal accident on the Jaipur-Agra highway. Seems like the driver side airbag on his mercedes did not fire. It feels like Mercedes has started taking Indian customers for granted and is just believing their brand name is enough to sell numbers. We know our BIL cannot come back but atleast others can be made aware so that precious life can be saved.

RIP Nirmal ... We will miss you.

Originally Posted by markmytravel (Post 2581884)

My Brother in Law met with a fatal accident on the Jaipur-Agra highway. Seems like the driver side airbag on his mercedes did not fire. It feels like Mercedes has started taking Indian customers for granted and is just believing their brand name is enough to sell numbers. We know our BIL cannot come back but atleast others can be made aware so that precious life can be saved.

RIP Nirmal ... We will miss you.

Originally Posted by vkochar (Post 2582148)

Although I did not know the person ( Nirmal Saraf ) who died in the S Class Accident on the Agra - Jaipur highway, my family however knew his wife's family. His wife was also known to my younger sister and it is only my moral duty to spread this message as Mercedes's so claimed 1 crore rupee safest car in the world held no meaning at all when someone lost his life to such a tragic accident.

I can understand if all airbags had opened then yes the accident may have been so massive BUT the airbags not opening even when car has turtled and done possibly all the aerobics before finally stopping. This is just unacceptable.

Here is a pic I am sharing -

Attachment 844039

Also users can know more by simply typing Mercedes Exposed on facebook. A page has been created to bring awareness.

RIP Nirmal.

Originally Posted by vkochar (Post 2582148)

Although I did not know the person ( Nirmal Saraf ) who died in the S Class Accident on the Agra - Jaipur highway, my family however knew his wife's family. His wife was also known to my younger sister and it is only my moral duty to spread this message as Mercedes's so claimed 1 crore rupee safest car in the world held no meaning at all when someone lost his life to such a tragic accident.

I can understand if all airbags had opened then yes the accident may have been so massive BUT the airbags not opening even when car has turtled and done possibly all the aerobics before finally stopping. This is just unacceptable.

Here is a pic I am sharing -



Also users can know more by simply typing Mercedes Exposed on facebook. A page has been created to bring awareness.

RIP Nirmal.

Originally Posted by mayankk (Post 2582175)

What is the geometry of this accident.
This looks like it has gone under a truck.
or flipped over onto a divider.
the damage is more apparent on the right side.

Are frontal supposed to deploy in such situations?


PS:no disrespect. Im just trying to understand what has happened.

Originally Posted by Warwithwheels (Post 2582238)

My deepest condolences to the family. With all due respect, nobody here knows what exactly happened at the time of accident. The speed at which the car was travelling was also unknown.

All safety equipments are designed in to work in a particular fashion. They lack intelligence. They only work on the basis of the inputs received from the sensors. More importantly, beyond a particular speed limit, safety features could do very little to save lives.

I perfectly understand your anguish. But then just because somebody has invested 1c on a car it is may not be correct to expect that your lives are safe come what may.

Originally Posted by markmytravel (Post 2582179)

Here is the turn of events as narrated by eye-witnesses. We don't know if airbags may or may not have helped in this case, but hope Merc will not compromise with lifes in future because airbags not working is a serious matter for cases where the accident is not so fierce as in most cases it can make a big difference.

On 12.11.2011, our brother, Nirmal Saraf, was driving a Mercedes S-class (claimed to be one of the most safest cars of the world), from Jaipur to Agra alone during the day. At about 12 o'clock, he met with an accident. A truck moving parallel to his car, took a sudden turn due which he had to apply sudden brakes. Unfortunately he hit the truck from the driver's side. Due to the collision the rod, ...which holds the windscreen of the car broke and hit Nirmal near the shoulder, which caused him to loose control of the car. The car hit a few kiosks on the roadside. People nearby had to cut the seat belt and somehow managed to get him out of the car and an ambulance was called to take him to the hospital. But unfortunately the doctors couldn't save our brother's precious life. Even after such a big collision only one airbag opened of the Mercedes S-class and that too of the passenger's side (left side) where as the car was hit on the driver's side. Mercedes claims that SAFETY is their utmost priority, and that they have provided 8 airbags in their S-class. Then why after such a big collision only one airbag opened and that too of left side where there was no major hit? Is selling the car more important than ensuring the security of it? We do not know what the 'S' in the name S-Class stand for, but its definitely not SAFETY.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque (Post 2582284)

Hey Mark really sorry for the loss. Deepest condolence to family and friends.
Also If I have understood it correctly, he must have been overtaking the truck from the left and due to sudden left turn by the truck, the right side of the car came under the truck. The car then hit highway kiosks as you said which would have been on the left which is why only the left side air bag opened. The ride of the car was not hit at the front, it was from the A-pillar onwards which means that the car went under the truck. I may be wrong but this is the only explanation why the right hand side air bag did not open. Also from the picture, the right front of the Merc is almost unharmed.

Originally Posted by markmytravel (Post 2582316)

When the car hit the truck, it lost control, crossed the divider and ended up hitting some road side shops which resulted in maximum damage. It didn't go under the truck. As you can see from the pic, the maximum damage had been done on the driver side of the car, almost nothing is left on that side. Whereas the passenger side is pretty much intact but the airbag only deployed on the passenger side. Other question is shouldn't it be all airbags or none. Why only one airbag opened that too on the side which is not badly damaged.

I am not trying to put the blame on Merc as there are other factors too that conspired in this event (speed, truck, airbags, shops exactly where car ended... ) but then we are trying to find out if Merc has been delivering what it is promising. Is it compromising on the safety features knowing there are less chances of getting customers complaining. The news has been on many new channels but Merc hasn't come forward with an explaination on why only one Airbag was deployed.

There are many who will believe they are buying a safe car, but if the working conditions of these safety features ir compromised by manufacturer or the service center, it needs to be brought in public for benefits of others.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque (Post 2582334)

Hey mark, please dont mind. I was only trying to decipher what might have happened and a logical explanation to that. I looked at the picture again and infact the whole front infact is relatively unharmed. The crumple zones have not come into play atleast for the front. By looking at the picture it seems that all the damage is on the drive side where the A-pillar has caved in badly and the it seems a huge weight dropped on the roof of car primarily on the right side.