Careless driving and overspeeding often cause serious crashes and casualties. With our roads getting better, the chances of rash driving causing crashes are also likely to go up. A recent crash from Mumbai's Coastal Road shows how overspeeding could cause accidents even on good roads. In a video that has now surfaced from the crash site, we get to see a speeding 375 hp BMW m340i lose control and hit the side rails before coming to a complete stop.
BMW M340i Crash In Mumbai's Coastal Road: Details
The video starts by showing a Black BMW 340i approaching the camera. It is carrying high speeds and almost does a 'fly-by' before the one filming. The driver seems to have a fun time till when he spots a Toyota Fortuner right in front of him. It seems to carry a decent speed, but is in fact, much slower than the incoming BMW. The SUV driver makes no attempt to shift lanes and is rather left with very little time to do so.
Sensing danger, the BMW driver slams the brake hard. The M340i is too fast to make a safe halt, and soon loses control, likely triggered by its driver's panicky steering inputs. With the tail out, it drifts to the left, passing the Fortuner. There seems to be a moment or two when the Fortuner driver could have seen the BMW guy face to face.
What followed this cinematic moment was a horrifying crash. The BMW slammed against the side rails (or walls) and seems to have been totalled. While we are sure that the car took immense damage, details of what happened to the occupants remain unknown.
So, who is at fault here? What does the video suggest? Well, the BMW driver's overconfidence and aggressive overspeeding on the Coastal stretch seems to be the ones to blame. Mumbai's coastal road has smooth surfaces and open stretches. However, it is unsafe to speed here. The recommended speed limit here is just 80 kph.
The road has decent traffic during most hours of the day. It can also be crowded during the peak traffic hours. Thus, overspeeding here could lead to major accidents and related mishaps. The authorities actively enforce speed control most of the time. Despite these efforts, we have seen multiple crashes on the Coastal route, involving cars ranging from Maruti Suzukis to BMWs and Mercedes Benzs.
BMW M340i: A Closer Look At It
The M340i is the sportiest and most powerful a 3 series can get. Unlike the regular 3 series, it has a hefty ex-showroom price tag of 74.90 lakh. The biggest talking point here is the engine.
Under its hood, the sedan houses a massive M-tuned Twin turbocharged Inline 6 petrol engine that produces 374 hp, and comes mated to an 8-speed 'Sport' automatic transmission. It also gets a variable Sport steering, sport brakes, M-Adaptive suspension and M-sport differential.
The jaw-dropping specifications means that the M340i is the fastest that the 3 series gets. It does the 0-100 kph run in just 4.4 seconds!
Another BMW Crash On The Coastal Road
Previously, another BMW crash was reported inside the Coastal Road tunnel, in which there were no casualties. The driver here, lost control of his car and rammed into the wall. The sedan took a sizeable hit and the wreckage disrupted the traffic around. The airbags deployed on time and the same could have played a key role in saving the occupants.