Cyrus Mistry, former chairman of Tata Sons, and one another were killed in a road accident after his car rammed a divider in Maharashtra's Palghar on Sunday afternoon. He was 54.
Mistry was travelling in Rs. 70 lakh first-gen Mercedes-Benz GLC SUV and the unfortunate incident has raised questions on road safety and car safety standards.
The GLC was awarded the highest 5-star safety rating by Euro NCAP and was based on the MRA architecture. It is also one of the best-selling luxury cars in India.
A video of the unfortunate incident is also making rounds on social media.
Visuals showed the front side of the car completely mangled. The airbags did pop out but weren't effective enough to save the lives of the two who died in the accident.
Mistry was returning to Mumbai from Gujarat in his Mercedes car.
It is alleged that Mistry and the co-passenger who was killed, were not wearing seatbelts while an overspeeding angle is also being investigated.
"Over-speeding and the error of judgement" by the driver might have caused the accident, police has said.
The luxury car covered 20 kilometres in just 9 minutes after crossing the Charoti check post in the Palghar district, 120 km away from Mumbai, the primary investigation revealed, according to news agency PTI..
It is alleged that the rear seat airbags did not deploy with the impact of the accident, killing Mistry and his co-passenger. Several media reports and statements from the police after the investigation suggest that the rear seat airbags were not deployed.
Mercedes Benz GLC SUV features:
It was a luxury SUV car. One of the best-selling luxury models in India.
The ex-showroom price of this Mercedes-Benz GLC is over Rs 60 lakh with Rs 70 lakh on-road price.
According to Euro NCAP, this car has received a 5-star safety rating in the crash test.
This car is based on MRA architecture.
Car safety features:
7 airbags
Kneebag
Crosswind assist
Parking assist
Attention Assist
Adaptive brake lights
Tyre-pressure monitoring system
Hill descent control
Mercedes’ Pre-Safe occupant protection system
Parking Package with 360-degree Camera
NCRB data on road accidents in India:
Over 1.55 lakh lives were lost in road crashes across India in 2021 — an average of 426 daily or 18 every single hour — which is the highest death figure recorded in any calendar year so far, according to official data.
Besides the deaths, 3.71 lakh people were also injured in 4.03 lakh road accidents across the country last year, according to National Crime Records Bureau data under the 'Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2021' head.
The incident has raised questions and concerns among people over the safety of luxury cars.
"How would a customer know that out of 7 airbags, no one is able to save the passenger sitting on the rear seat? This is surely going to dent the brand when it comes to new buyers," a car expert said.
The police are analysing the footage captured by all CCTV cameras in the area and the car is being investigated for any mechanical issues.
The accident reportedly took place on the Surya River Charoti bridge on the Mumbai Ahmedabad National Highway. Palghar Police sources informed that the driver of the car in which Cyrus Mistry was travelling lost control due to overspeeding and rammed into the divider leading to the accident.
(with sources inputs)
