I feel very very sorry for the untimely and tragic death of Gopinath Munde.
Unfortunately, India IS the road death capital of the world – we have more that 650 people who die EVERYDAY on the roads just by car deaths..
Most of us in India like to SPEED, drive without a care for self, passengers or fellow motorists and believe that ACCIDENTS CAN’T HAPPEN TO US.
Well, the death of Gopinath Munde proves that no one – not even the most important VIPs are safe from the deadly Indian Roads.
The question I ask is:
Could Gopinath Munde have survived if his car had side AIRBAGS that would have inflated at the time of impact and cushioned his inner organs?
What I read was that he died of severe internal injuries.
Aren’t airbags supposed to help?
I was taken aback to read that Munde was being driven in a Maruti Suzuki SX4 car that unfortunately does NOT have airbags on the sides.
Do side airbags (curtains) help?
My heart stopped when I saw this video:
Unfortunately again, in India, there is a DISDAIN for airbags – even for the standard 2 airbags in the front.
This is a blog I wrote in Dec 2010 now reproduced for this article :
While casually conversing with my wife, she mentioned to me that my Dad had booked the ‘slightly cheaper’ Volkswagen Vento.
I immediately asked her what ‘slightly cheaper meant’ – was it a non-automatic and non leather seats version?
My wife hesitated and told me that actually my Dad had booked the ‘No ABS’ and ‘No Airbags’ version!
Just as I began freaking out, she mentioned that she had already got my Dad to convert to the ‘higher’ range model.
This brought back memories of the Hyundai i10 my wife had bought for herself a couple of years ago. She wanted a cute, easy to drive car and settled on the i10.
When we went to the Hyundai showroom and began discussing the versions of the i10 on offer, the Salesman quickly seized us up and understood that my wife was ready to buy asap. When we asked for discounts and price benefits, his direction of bargaining STUNNED me!
‘Madam, you will drive the Car in South Mumbai right’? the Salesman asked.
‘Yup’ said my wife. ‘Actually may be like 5-6 kms a day’.
‘Very fine’ he said, while pushing some stale looking chocolates to me – ‘No need to buy ABS and Air Bags. We will save lots of money’.
I’m really not into what goes under the hood of cars, but I do know that ABS and Air Bags are Safety Features!!!
Angrily, I growled, ‘Are you telling my wife to compromise on her safety just to do this sale fast’?
‘No Sir, nothing like that. It’s just that only out-station drivers buy cars with Air Bags…in the city, no need’.
I freaked out. I mean I was sitting in Hyundai’s marquee showroom in the poshest part of Mumbai and here was this slimy Car Salesman behaving like one of the florists on the road just interested in one more sale!
After hearing how Volkswagen had also managed to hoodwink my Dad, I really wonder what the ethics and morals of these Car Companies are in India? Don’t they think it’s their business to educate first time buyers of cars in the world – Indians – what they SHOULD HAVE in the cars?
Unfortunately I think their philosophy is , – ‘Sir, just buy my Car… you can conveniently die later’…
And ironically, the largest deaths on the road occur in …. yup – India…
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How I wish I could meet this Salesman now and wring his neck 🙁
If you are concerned about your own safety and the happiness of your family, MAY I PLEASE BEG YOU TO DRIVE A CAR THAT HAS THE MAXIMUM AIRBAGS?
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RIP Mr. Munde
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