Mercedes Benz to send Mistry’s car to Germany to ascertain sequence of events

Auto giant Mercedes Benz has said that the ill-fated SUV which met with an accident, resulting in the death of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, will be sent to Germany along with its 'black box' and chip to ascertain what really happened.

Meanwhile, following instructions given by Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to Director General of Police Rajnish Seth to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter, the Mumbai Police conducted a demo at the accident spot with four dummy passengers inside a vehicle. Later, a clip was posted on its Twitter handle, warning citizens to wear seat belts even while being seated in the backseat of their cars.

According to the Palghar police, the data of the car will be analysed in Germany in the next 2-3 days.

Mistry died in a road accident on September 4, 2022 at Charoti in Palghar, Maharashtra after his car crashed into a road divider while returning to Mumbai from Ahmedabad.

There were four passengers in the car. Besides Mistry, a passenger identified as Jahangir Dinshaw Pandole too perished in the accident. Two others – Anahita Pandole and her husband Darius Pandole – are under treatment in Kokila Ben Hospital in Mumbai.

Palghar police has asked the car manufacturer why the airbags in the ill-fated SUV did not get deployed at the time of the accident. It also wants to know if there was any mechanical fault in the vehicle, the nature of the brake fluid of the car and the tyre pressure at the time of the accident.

The police said that these vehicles come out of the plant only after proper testing. "In such a situation, what is the report of the collision impact of the manufacturer's investigation? Was the steering locked after the collision?" the police asked the car manufacturer.

"Anhaita Pandole was driving at a high speed. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway has six lanes and suddenly these lanes merge into two. She might have been overtaking a vehicle from the left side and may not have noticed the concrete portion on the highway, going on to lose control. The car came to a halt after the sudden braking and since she was wearing a seat belt along with her husband, they were both saved,” former DGP PS Pasricha, who has worked in the traffic unit, said.

“The impact of a car in high motion suddenly braking hit people sitting in the back of the car very hard. The kinetic energy had to pass on to others, taking the lives of Mistry and Jehangir. It’s possible that their heads hit against hard metal or glass. The company has already sent its engineers to inspect the spot and understand the impact on the car and its passengers. They will assess if not wearing seat belts interfered with airbags opening up in the C Class Mercedes," he added.