Mahindra Thar on Wrong Lane Crashes Into Bus: Sturdy Build Keeps Occupants Safe (Video)
Reckless driving and driving on the wrong lane often lead to serious crashes. A video that has now surfaced online shows one such case from Kerala. It looks like a security camera footage, and shows a Mahindra Thar crashing head-on into a private bus. Wrong-lane driving led to the crash, but the Thar's sturdy build kept its occupants safe.
This video is from Manjeri in Kerala. It took place on the Manjeri-Kondotty road in the evening. The private bus was going from Manjeri to Calicut. The Thar was headed to the Manjeri side from Valluvambram.
The video starts by showing a single-lane road. The Thar is driving at a high speed through the wrong side of the road, and runs straight into the bus. The bus itself is seen driving at a safe speed. The reason for the crash is the SUV's wrong-side driving.
The impact seems to be significant and damages the Thar's front fascia. We can also see the bus' front glass falling off, and its front end getting damaged as well.
The crash reportedly injured many, but did not lead to the loss of any life. Another video that has surfaced online shows the post-crash visuals of the SUV. The Thar had a Thrissur registration. We can see that its right A-pillar got seriously deformed, and the hood also took notable damage.
A truck was following the Thar. Soon after the crash, it pulled over, and the crew jumped to the rescue. They reportedly helped in evacuating the SUV's occupants and in getting the injured primary medical attention. They were soon shifted to a hospital nearby.
As can be seen in the video, the road here was rather narrow. After the crash, both the bus and the Thar were seen halted on the road. This brought the traffic around to a complete standstill. This congestion continued for some time.
From the video, it is clear that the reckless driving by the Thar, on the wrong lane caused the accident. It, however, remains unclear as to what made the driver do so. What we do know is that the SUV's sturdy build quality and safety features made the occupants survive the unfortunate incident. This isn't the first case of irresponsible drivers crashing Thars. In most previous incidents, we saw the SUV's occupants making it out of the crash unhurt.
The Thar Is Indeed Crashworthy
Mahindra sells both three-door and five-door versions of the Thar in India- the Thar and the ROXX. Both have performed well in crash tests conducted by Global NCAP. The three-door SUV ( the one seen here) scored four stars in both adult and child protection. It comes packed with safety features like two airbags, ESC, ABS, EBD, and more.
In the crash test, the driver and passenger's head and neck enjoyed good protection while the driver's chest had adequate protection. The passenger chest got good protection as well. The vehicle's overall structure was rated as stable. The footwell, however, was labelled unstable and not capable of withstanding further loadings.
The five-door Thar ROXX, on the other hand, proved to be much safer. It got a full five-star rating in both adult and child protections, in the crash tests conducted by Bharat NCAP. It even achieved the highest score in Adult protection, among petrol and diesel cars sold in the country- 31.09 out of 32. The child protection score stood at 45/ 49- same as the Tata Punch EV.