[Amity]

This is my first post on the forum. I will be writing about an accident which happened with me at the end of last year. This may be a long post. [Moderators, sorry if there are any mistakes.]

This accident happened on the Faridabad-Gurugram Road. For those of you who don't know, let me give you a brief overview of this road. This is a four lane road with a divider, 2 lanes on each side, for which toll is charged from vehicles. This road cris crosses the Aravali Range and therefore, there are lots of twists and turns with no proper signage to alert the drivers at the turns. Mind you, this road connects the two biggest cities (both in terms of population and revenue) of Haryana and is almost always busy.

On December 29, 2018, I, along with my wife, was traveling from Faridabad to Pratapgarh Farm, Jhajjar for office camaraderie in my Hyundai Creta (face lifted version) bought in July 2018. We left home at approximately 08:15 AM.

Around 08:25 AM, we reached a Mandir where there is a huge statue of Hanumanji. At this particular point, the road going towards Gurugram (our side) is at a lower level; and the road going towards Faridabad is at a comparatively higher point with a turn towards left. Suddenly, my wife let out a shriek and what I saw was a scene right out of movies. From the opposite side, a Honda City jumped the divider, became airborne and was FLYING towards our car.

Next thing I remember is waking up in emergency ward of a Hospital with head injury along with cuts and bruises on the body. I was operated upon the same day to close the wound on my head. Thankfully, my wife did not suffer any major injury but had some bruises due to glass pieces of the windshield. I was discharged from hospital on January 01, 2019 and was on bed rest for the whole of January and joined office only in February.

Subsequently, my wife told me what exactly happened. The Honda City flew towards us and landed on our car. Immediately upon impact, I was rendered unconscious with blood coming out of my head and it was only because of the seat belt that I was in the car. The Honda City was traveling at such speed that it did not stop after landing on my car and went beyond car while ripping the roof apart (Later on, we came to know from Police that a motorcyclist was traveling just behind our car on the next lane and the Honda City landed on him, killing him on the spot. RIP)

My wife told me that the car steering turned in my hand, upon impact, and our car crossed the divider to the other side. My wife was calling me out to stop the car but as I was unconscious I could not do anything. Our car travelled for some distance on the other side before coming to a stop. Thankfully, it was not struck by any vehicles on the other side as this road has a lot of dumper truck traffic.

Due to shades, our eyes were saved from glass pieces. Further, the airbags were not deployed due to the impact on the roof only (as can be seen in the photos below). It was the seat belts which turned out to be our saviour and held us in our seats or we could have been flung out of the car or collapsed into the steering/dashboard. I think the head injury may have been due to A-pillar hitting my head when Honda City landed on my car.

People stopped their cars and came out to help my wife but they did not even come to my side as they though I was not alive. It was only when my wife pleaded with them that people came to my side to check on me. They closed/covered the wound on my head with their shirts/muffler. However, nobody was ready to take me to the hospital and instead, asked my wife to call an ambulance. My wife had already called at home and though, my father and brother were on their way, they were stuck in the ensuing jam caused due to the accident. Upon my wife's continuous pleadings, a cab driver agreed to take us to the hospital. God Bless that guy. My wife said there were a lot of people who were clicking photos and making videos but did not make any effort to help us out.

I am alive because of my wife. If it was not for her courage, I would have not been writing this. Even though there was no mistake on my part in the accident, I have learnt that the roads in this country are not at all safe and all you can do is take every precaution from your side and leave the rest to God.

Present Situation:
As I immediately became unconscious, I didn't really go through the traumatic experience. I have started driving again now. However, my wife had to go through it all and she saw the whole thing. You really can't forget it easily and she is still traumatized by the whole experience.

As it was a new car with just 10000 km on the odo and more than Rs. 12,50,000 of IDV, the insurance company (Royal Sundaram) processed the claim for repair. It has been over 2 months and the car is still in the service centre. The insurance surveyor will be inspecting the car today. Hopefully, I will get the car by this weekend.

Some photos taken by my cousin the next day at Police Chowki are attached below:







Driver Side of my car






No damage on the passenger side doors of my car


The culprit


Attachment 1858187

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by Amity

This is my first post on the forum. I will be writing about an accident which happened with me at the end of last year.

Glad to know that you are safe and back to your own self. Seatbelts save lives and there is no other thing as important as a seatbelt when you sit in a car. Doesn't matter if your car hasn't got a music system or some other fancy stuff. That road is notorious for accidents.

I feel that the whole body shell needs a replacement as the roof is just ripped off.

[Hickstead]

It was a really scary accident 'Amity'. It was God's grace, which has saved you and your family. Based on your explanation and pics, I had assumed that Honda City would have been torn miserably. But surprisingly, the damages to the City are nothing compared to those of your Creta. Drive safe.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Amity

This is my first post on the forum. I will be writing about an accident which happened with me at the end of last year. This may be a long post. [Moderators, sorry if there are any mistakes.]

Holy Mother of God!
Without the context you've provided, it would be difficult to imagine a survivor from the Creta.
Thank your stars, and the people who had a conscience to help rather than film.

What of the city driver? Drunk driving?
That road is the favorite for "Gaadi bhai Chalayega" types, owing to the lack of cops, red lights and the abundance of vends.

[BANDHAV]

Originally Posted by Amity

This is my first post on the forum. I will be writing about an accident which happened with me at the end of last year. This may be a long post.

Your guardian angel must be riding you with that day. Glad to learn that you guys are in good shape now.

Why on earth the car is being repaired? This should have been written off as total loss.

[Amity]

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

Your guardian angel must be riding you with that day. Glad to learn that you guys are in good shape now.

Why on earth the car is being repaired? This should have been written off as total loss.

All I can say is, everything happened in our favour after the accident and I am lucky to be alive. Even the policeman, who came to record my wife's statement, could not believe that I survived the accident.

The surveyor told my brother that they will first put the pictures of the car it on their internal portal for quotes from some their 'buyers' who will be willing to buy the car on 'as is where is whatever there is' basis. If they received good quote, in the range of 3-4 lakhs, they will sell the car to that buyer and give us the IDV. However, if they fail to elicit response in the portal, they will approve the repair.

As per insurance company, there was no damage to engine and the damage was to frame with body chassis intact. I guess it was cheaper for them to get it repaired than pay IDV of more than 12.50 lakhs.

Originally Posted by mayankk

Holy Mother of God!
Without the context you've provided, it would be difficult to imagine a survivor from the Creta.
Thank your stars, and the people who had a conscience to help rather than film.

What of the city driver? Drunk driving?
That road is the favorite for "Gaadi bhai Chalayega" types, owing to the lack of cops, red lights and the abundance of vends.

City driver escaped with very minor injuries, mostly scratches. As per the policeman, he even tried to flee the scene in his car but could not do so because of damage to his car. The policeman told me that he even tried to blame me for the accident and told them that the motorcyclist was killed because of my car. Police says that he was not drunk at the time of accident.

On 02.01.2019, when my brother had gone to police chowki to collect our car for sending it to service centre, that driver (around 30 years old) was sitting there. He had no remorse whatsoever and his father-in-law even said that cars are to be driven at 100-150 kmph.

[saket77]

As glad as I am about you guys being now well, I am so much disappointed by your decision to get this car repaired.

Wish you guys a healthy and long life. Take care of your wife as she might be affected by PTSD as she had to go through the entire ordeal.

Regards,
Saket

[Mohan Mathew A]

Originally Posted by Amity

This is my first post on the forum. I will be writing about an accident which happened with me at the end of last year.

So glad that you survived it and doing fine now. Looking at the condition of the car, no one would have guessed it. There definitely was someone looking after you (apart from your wife) that day.

It looks like the car is already repaired, how did they do it? Did they replace the entire monocoque. Please ensure that everything is as it should be before taking possession.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Amity

This is my first post on the forum. I will be writing about an accident which happened with me at the end of last year. This may be a long post. [Moderators, sorry if there are any mistakes.]

This is becoming a real big nightmare on our highways. The current median design is just not able to stop vehicles from jumping over to the other side. Maybe guard rails can be mandated at points where the road curves.

We have the U.S. style pit median on the NICE expressway in Bangalore. Great for visibility and prevents cars from jumping over to the other side. But without a concrete divider there is nothing stopping reckless motorists from getting two wheels on the grass banks and spinning out of control. Due to this accident rate is very high on this road IMO.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

We have the U.S. style pit median on the NICE expressway in Bangalore. Great for visibility and prevents cars from jumping over to the other side.

My biggest concern with this set-up, especially in India is visibility itself, primarily under darkness and when it rains - The water on the tarmac will easily reflect causing a disturbed vision and not to forget the direct glare one will have to face from oncoming traffic which most of the times is driven on high beams! NICE road when it rains is certainly not a great experience to drive due to this.

I would certainly prefer guardrails at a height that will prevent vehicles from jumping over these medians.

In the end, I too have the same paranoia while driving; what if someone jumps over the median and collides with my car and this is one of the fears that makes me drive on the left or center lane always, something that I have been advocating in most of my posts. This too is something that may not save you if you are stuck on the fast lane while overtaking while it happens but it still keeps the chances lower than usual!

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Amity

This is my first post on the forum.

Good lord! How on earth is that car getting repaired! What exactly is this repair? Is it a new car (chassis and everything), but with the older car's engine?

Glad you both made it out without life threatening injuries.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

In the end, I too have the same paranoia while driving; what if someone jumps over the median and collides with my car and this is one of the fears that makes me drive on the left or center lane always, something that I have been advocating in most of my posts.

+1

I prefer the centre lane for this exact reason and would rather drive on the lane splitter on four lane highways. Vehicles waiting at the median, tractors suddenly joining the lanes, cattle.. there's just too many surprises on either sides of the highway.

There was a similar awful accident on the Expressway early Jan this year.

https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/...w/67390705.cms

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Vehicles waiting at the median, tractors suddenly joining the lanes, cattle.. there's just too many surprises on either sides of the highway.

Indeed. Couple of them I had mentioned sometime back:

Originally Posted by paragsachania

There are a lot of threads and posts right here on the hazards of driving on the fast lane - Sudden break in the median, a stationary truck that's broken down on a right handed curve, water logging due to rains, cattle breeding right at the center of median, a cycle tire popping out to cross that road, a pedestrian stepping right in front of you from behind the bushes, the list goes on.

On the left lane, you always have additional space to react that you will almost never have when on rightmost lane.

And look at this thread itself and you have so many accidents where cars have jumped the median and landed upside down like these 2:

Duster and Honda City

Innova jumps over Santro

[Thad E Ginathom]

Amity, Welcome to Team-BHP. You have certainly arrived with a bang! I have been known to say that there is no such thing as an accident unless it is something falling out of the sky. In your case, it did, with horrific consequences and added miracle content that you and your wife are alive to tell the story.

Originally Posted by saket77

As glad as I am about you guys being now well, I am so much disappointed by your decision to get this car repaired.

Me too. Unless they replace the entire body shell. Anything else would be a car welded together from bits: a very unsafe proposition. And one with zero resale value if the accident history is found out by the buyer.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by Amity

This is my first post on the forum. I will be writing about an accident which happened with me at the end of last year. This may be a long post. [Moderators, sorry if there are any mistakes.]

Welcome to team-bhp family and to your second life. I would refrain from saying anything about the car repair stuffs, but I would definitely like to say something about you getting back your life ‘live it to the fullest buddy, and most important LOVE CARS, LIVE CARS’.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Amity

The surveyor told my brother that they will first put the pictures of the car it on their internal portal for quotes from some their 'buyers' who will be willing to buy the car on 'as is where is whatever there is' basis. If they received good quote, in the range of 3-4 lakhs, they will sell the car to that buyer and give us the IDV. However, if they fail to elicit response in the portal, they will approve the repair.

As per insurance company, there was no damage to engine and the damage was to frame with body chassis intact. I guess it was cheaper for them to get it repaired than pay IDV of more than 12.50 lakhs.

This is a horrible incident to live through and I'm glad you are in shape to live and talk about it without any long term impact. Wrt the car, I hope the insurance firm gets some buyer; but if not my suggestion to you to take an informed decision to sell off the car once you get it back repaired, even if you have to take a financial hit.

Reasons are quite a few
- The body structure is clearly damaged and a repaired frame will not be that secure
- More than you, your wife might not be at peace in driving this vehicle again; atleast a gap in vehicle ownership or a change of vehicle might help in that aspect