VW Polo Gets Damaged & Airbags Deploy After Hitting Huge Pothole — Who’s To Blame?

A large pothole has apparently caused the airbags in a Volkswagen Polo to inflate. The infuriated but helpless owner of the car tweeted to the Mumbai Police and a few media houses about the incident.

Huge Pothole Damages Volkswagen Polo & Causes Airbags To Deploy: Who’s To Blame?

The incident is said to have taken place near the Wadala exit below the Eastern Freeway in Mumbai. Indian roads are unpredictable and extremely unsafe. Indian roads can throw surprises at drivers and riders at any given moment, causing accidents and damaging vehicles.

What makes it worse is, nobody can be blamed for it as the authorities responsible for maintenance of the roads would blame it on the rough monsoons. This is especially true for Mumbai which is currently experiencing heavy downpour and flooding.

Huge Pothole Damages Volkswagen Polo & Causes Airbags To Deploy: Who’s To Blame?

A resident of Mumbai named Delzan Chhoi went through this harrowing incident on 24 July 2019. He claims that his car was damaged when he hit the deep pothole near the Wadala exit of the freeway.

The pothole damaged the rear bumper of the vehicle and almost pulled it out from its place. This might have triggered the airbag sensors and the airbags too deployed, leaving the car immobilised.

Huge Pothole Damages Volkswagen Polo & Causes Airbags To Deploy: Who’s To Blame?

The Volkswagen Polo is one of the safest cars in its segment and this particular variant comes with two airbags. These airbags rely on sensors placed strategically around the car to detect an accident.

When the hatchback's rear bumper was torn off, the sensors would have assumed it was an accident and the airbags were deployed. Airbag deployment happens at tremendous speed, with lots of air pressure.

Huge Pothole Damages Volkswagen Polo & Causes Airbags To Deploy: Who’s To Blame?

When deployed in a normal situation, it can cause more injuries than a minor accident would. In this case too, it is a minor accident, but thankfully did not cause any injuries. However, it did damage the car which according to Delzan Chhoi would cost him around Rs 2.5 lakh to repair.

The bumper would need to be replaced, the airbags and its peripherals like the sensors and inflator would also have to be replaced. In-fact, the entire dashboard and steering wheel of the Volkswagen Polo will have to replaced because the airbags tore through them.

Huge Pothole Damages Volkswagen Polo & Causes Airbags To Deploy: Who’s To Blame?

Given the general cost of maintenance of a Volkswagen vehicle, the Rs 2.5 lakh figure is almost believable. The insurance cover of the car might or might not cover this accident and that remains to be seen. Delzan Chhoi also tweeted a video of the pothole that caused the damage.

The pothole and its surroundings are filled with water and it is difficult to gauge the depth of the pothole until you see the video in which a car-carrier truck, a Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo and a few other vehicles pass by.

Huge Pothole Damages Volkswagen Polo & Causes Airbags To Deploy: Who’s To Blame?

Almost a quarter of the truck's wheels are swallowed by the pothole while almost all of the Zen Estilo's wheel is under the slush. There are huge boulders next to the pothole and we think it might be the boulder that led to the Polo getting damaged.

Thoughts On Huge Pothole Damaging Volkswagen Polo and Airbags Deploying

Municipal and developmental corporations have to take up the task of developing roads more seriously. Roads with potholes like this could take lives and this is no small issue. We aren't really sure if Delzan Chhoi would be compensated for the damage. He could take the developmental authorities to court over this, but it would be a long and arduous task.

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Read more on: #off beat
Article Published On: Friday, July 26, 2019, 14:34 [IST]
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