A Mahindra XUV500 was recently involved in an accident as it jumped the divider at the Yamuna Expressway on Monday morning while it rammed into an oncoming Ford Figo. Four persons from two families which included three women and one child died in the accident.
37 yr old Harjot Singh (driving the XUV500) was on his way to drop off his family members at their home in Sector 15 in Chandigarh. His wife Navneet (36), sister Jasvinder Kaur (52) and children Brahmaleen (9) and Anmol (5), were in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
At around 9.30 am the tyre of the XUV burst at the Buddh Circuit area. This caused the car to jump in the air, enough to lose control. This led the car to jump the divider and crash into the oncoming white Ford Figo being driven by Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari (46) a JCO with the Indian Army.
Tiwari was accompanied by his wife Lakshmi Devi and they were traveling to Lucknow for a wedding. Lakshmi was shifted to the hospital but died in the ICU while Tiwari has been operated upon for his severe injuries. The deceased from both the vehicles include Navneet, Jasvinder, Brahmaleen and Lakshmi Devi.
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In an interview with TOI, one of the family member said, “I think we must question the company, because they claim about a lot of safety measures. Only one of the air bags opened up which saved Harjot while there are five of them in an XUV. All should have opened. However, it seems that they are selling a coffin.”
As per Mahindra, that is not the case. Mahindra says that the accident did not happen due to tyre burst as all four tyres of the XUV500 are ‘intact’. Secondly, both front airbags deployed. Below is the full statement from Mahindra;
Mahindra Press Statement
We are pained to learn about the accident of the XUV500 (bearing registration No. CH01BF0127) at Yamuna Expressway near Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. It is an unfortunate incident and we at Mahindra offer condolences to the families involved.
We are in the process of investigating this incident in detail through an external agency. The preliminary observations about the incident, after inspecting the accident site and the subject vehicle, are as follows:
– Tyre burst has been mentioned as the reason for the accident. However, our preliminary investigation has found all four tyres to be intact.
– The variant of the XUV500 involved in the incident is equipped with two front airbags (driver and co-driver) and in this case both the front airbags were deployed on impact.
All Mahindra Automotive products are developed and manufactured to meet or exceed the safety standards set in India for a safe driving experience. There is nothing more important to us than our customer’s safety. We are committed to meeting and exceeding all current and future safety norms.
