[rocksterraghu]

Originally Posted by gt_mustang

u guys are complaining about bang traffic u should see hyderabad then
i was there around 2 years back and man i found bang traffic very civilized as compared to hyd traffic

its horrible in hyd too chaotic no rules at all

lol. I agree. You should sometime come and watch the Punjagutta junction. Where red means go, green means stop. And I'm not kidding.

[finneyp]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

From what i made out about the guy in question, he seemed to be a rather timid and straightforward fellow. He owned up to his mistake, and did not seem to overact in any way. He has said that he would pay up the difference amount following insurance.

Ben, why do you call the Accent guy timid?
He was kind enuf to accept his mistake and ready to pay the difference amount!

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Ben, why do you call the Accent guy timid?
He was kind enuf to accept his mistake and ready to pay the difference amount!

Finney, not meant to be degrading to him in any way, but he was totally short of confidence. That he accepted his mistake was wonderful on his part, but thats the feeling i got about him.

Like i said, this could have been a lot worse. Also, the cops were smart enough to conclude that maintaining distance was the job of the car behind, so there was nothing much he could do to change it.

[Wheeliej]

Originally Posted by vid6639

WheelieJ, good to knwo your fine. The accident looks bad. Your car has taken a beating font and back.

Luckily the guy was decent enough to own up.

If you need any assistance from me for Dakshin honda let me know. My office is in E-city and Dakshin is on way to work.

Drive safe.

Hi all,

Thanks for your notes of concern. I am fine. I was badly shaken up. Fortunately the car was barely moving - I had just released the brake when it happened (I guess he released the clutch too early). Yes, the Honda City does seem to crumple very easily. Again, thankfully, the truck in front had a high bar so the bonnet of the car took a beating; if you see the front bumper is not as badly damaged which is why i am hopeful that the engine bay is relatively untouched. If the rear bar in the truck had been lower, am sure the passenger cabin would have been affected also. If I had been going at any higher speed, the bar would have been at my throat. The possibilities are indeed endless.

As Benny said, the driver was pretty decent. He actually walked up to my car immediately and opened the door and calmed me down and apologised. Helps that he and his wife are both doctors, I guess, so they are used to dealing with emergencies (and shaken people). They didnt try to get away at any time and were there until all the police/RTO formalities were completed.

However, I do anticipate a change in stance once the question of shelling out hard cash comes into play. Added to that is the fact that I dont have cashless insurance.

Vid, it will be great if you can drop into Dakshin Honda and check the status of the car. On Friday, Arvind, the workshop manager, had not yet opened the bonnet so he could not say whether there was any damage to the engine bay. he said he will give a final estimate by Tuesday.

Its a clean case of "khaaya piya kuch nahin, glass toda baara aana" (Did not eat or drink anything, but broke a glass and paid 12 annas).

The police were decent too - all of them who responded at the spot as well as at the police station. One of their relatives (in a red shirt) tried to change the story/ sequence of events by saying that it was caused by the truck braking suddenly causing a chain accident or that I had braked suddenly, another of his relatives said that it was imperative that we had the truck's registration no., it was my fault that we didnt note it, etc..... yet another tried the same at the police station also, but as Benny said, the police did not pay heed to any of them. When he was asked the doctor himself admitted that it was his fault and he would pay the difference between the cost and the insurance payment.

i will take along a friend or two when i meet with the doctor re. the compensation amount.

Cheers.

[mtnrajdeep]

Hi WheelieJ

Nice to know that the person admitted to his fault and offered to pay up. My wife noticed this accident on friday and had mentioned it to me, particularly stressing that the vehicle in front of you (a qualis, i think) did not even have a scratch!!

[ajmat]

The Honda City is designed to crumple if one merely taps it. If you visit the Honda workshops, you will see plenty of dire cases which are actually repairable. Headlight might be damaged since the lugs that hold it in place might be broken

[normally_crazy]

Ouch Wheelie !! That must have hurt - glad that the guy was decent enough to own up and offer to pay the difference.

Originally Posted by Wheeliej

Its a clean case of "khaaya piya kuch nahin, glass toda baara aana" (Did not eat or drink anything, but broke a glass and paid 12 annas).

Ask me man !! For no fault of mine - I went through the same thing.

[snaronikar]

Even I had the same experience with my previous car. But the guy was professor and he paid up the whole amount of 20K (of course I had to threaten him) for replacement of bonnet/FR and RR bumper, FR fender RH, Headlamp etc

[nssrini]

I share sentiments of most comments here. While high traffic is manageable - the traffic in bangalore is stressful. There's constant cris crossing of traffic of all kinds across the same road, even if its one way. And too many by-lanes & and turns even in many leading roads, that make people enter in one lane from left and immediately try to go right to another bye lane on the right. Of course - some basic courtesy to fellow vehicles can still avoid issues - but then where's time for courtesy ?

[Wheeliej]

Guys, As was (atleast partially) expected this guy has backed out saying that I am a bad driver that I did not control my car from going into the truck in front, That he has been advised that his insurance company will only pay for the damage to the back of the car and no way it will pay for damage to the front of the car (huh!) and accordingly, he will pay for such damages as his insurance company will pay him.

Do you think it will help to send them flowers as per Gandhiji's advice?

[finneyp]

This is too bad on the part of the Engineer & Doctor couple!
Honesty is a rare commodity nowadays!

Wheelij, you can threaten him that if he doesn't pay for the damages which is purely caused by his mistake, you will file a Police case (have you done this already?) against him! And you have the pics & hope some witnesses to prove that the accident was caused by this 'gentleman'.

[kuttapan]

If the police have recorded everything properly, then maybe you have a case. THe problem is finding time to run around, following up the cops and the court, wherein most of the time people let go.

What have you decided?

[Wheeliej]

I agree. Last night he was arguing just like the red shirt relative of his who turned up at the site (who seemed to be uneducated and a street corner type of person). He was saying that since he hit the car from behind, he will only pay for that damage. How can one so educated (and an engineer, no less) who has studied about motion, time, resistance, energy, aerodynamics, newton's laws and such stuff in college - I dont even know the right terms, only quoting from what I remember from science courses in school - (even a diploma holder will know and understand these terms and their effect), argue like a village farmer? And he says that his leasing / insurance company has advised him like that. I sincerely doubt this. If at all, then they are only trying to avoid any liability and trying to save on their no-claim bonuses most likely.

A person's worth is is only as much as his word on the street and on the street this guy has proved himself to be worth ZERO naya paisa.

His wife is a doctor who should appreciate that in the event of a heart attack, other major organs also get affected in some way or another. If faced with a situation of a heart attack herself where her kidney is also affected, she should prepare herself now only that her husband may only offer to pay for treating the heart and may say that treating the kidneys are not his responsibility. He might also say that the heart does not belong to him so he has no responsibility towards that treatment. It is surprising to me that a supposedly modern and educated woman who was at the site and who knows the facts cannot prevail upon her husband to do the 'right' thing.

How can they seek to isolate their responsibility in this way? It beats me. I guess to them their money is worth more than the word they gave to me, the police personnel and other folks on the site. Money is worth more than their sense of self and their reputation.

How will his employers be able to trust him? This situation proves that he will say anything to justify his actions and his mistakes to try to get away from his responsibilities. Imagine if he performs a test on a large piece of machinery and gives a report, will his boss be able to place his hand on his heart and say 'yes, i trust this report because it is signed off by him'.

I am checking out the options before me. Will keep updating you all. For now I have to get the original estimate and file a claim with the insurance company - Let me deal with the practicalities. I cannot abandon my car just because of low-lifes like them. Only then will I know what hiss mis-adventure has cost me personally (apart from the stress and agony I am already going thru).

Mods - I may have gotten overly emotional. Please feel free to edit any portion of this post (and earlier posts also) that you feel is not appropriate for this forum. I am only trying to verbalise my thoughts on the situation.

[diabloo]

Hey Wheeliej, I know you are lawyer and so know more than enough stuff about law. Still if you give up hope, where will ordinary souls like us go

Originally Posted by Wheeliej

Do you think it will help to send them flowers as per Gandhiji's advice?

[Wheeliej]

Originally Posted by finneyp

This is too bad on the part of the Engineer & Doctor couple!
Honesty is a rare commodity nowadays!

Wheelij, you can threaten him that if he doesn't pay for the damages which is purely caused by his mistake, you will file a Police case (have you done this already?) against him! And you have the pics & hope some witnesses to prove that the accident was caused by this 'gentleman'.

Yup, I have all that in place. He is claiming now that it was not his mistake, or rather the 'entire' accident was not his mistake.

He seems to be ill-advised, but he doesnt know the difference. He had clearly said that he will pay for the difference between the insurance claim amount and the actual damage - many times, not only once. Now he wants to claim insurance for the damage to the rear of the vehicle and give me the amount that is given by the insurance company. I.e., his personal liability is zero for causing the damage.

I dont even know that we are allowed to file two separate claims for two separate sides of the same vehicle involved in the same accident. So far as I know, it is not permitted. I was trying to get him to claim the entire amount from his insurance company so that my no-claim bonus is not affected. After all, in such cases, the person causing the accident also reimburses the person whose vehicle is damaged for the lost no-claim bonuses. So, instead of giving me the loss towards no-claim bonuses, he should lose his no-claim bonus.

His is a company leased car. I am exploring that angle as well.

Best will, ofcourse be if someone can prevail upon him to do the 'right' thing. So no one's time is wasted on what is becoming a common occurrence (traffic related accidents). He has proved that he is no different from the common call center cabbie. Perhaps if his company is aware of his lack of driving skills (and his illogical aptitude/attitude), they may also appoint a knowledgeable and safe driver for him.

There are always two ways of dealing with things and this couple have chosen to go about it the wrong way.

So nobody supports me in sending 'get well soon' flowers to this couple? It doesnt have to be a large bouquet. One flower laid at the doorsteps of RMZ NXT-Campus 2A, next to SAP Labs or at Vydehi Hospital gates, each day for a few days will do. After all, security may not allow you to walk upto his floor and lay it at his door/desk.