Careless Tractor Driver Makes Overtaking Mahindra Thar Flip: Live Footage

Careless driving practices and negligence often lead to road accidents and mishaps. In rural India, a great share of these accidents are brought about by tractors and the people who drive them. They often pay no heed to traffic rules and the same leads to accidents. In a recent instance, a careless tractor driver hit a Mahindra Thar while it was trying to overtake, causing the SUV to flip post-crash. The Mahindra SUV had dash camera installed in it and the footage shows clear negligence from the tractor.

The Thar is seen driving on what appears to be a state highway. It was being driven responsibly and was not overspeeding. A fuel station soon appeared to the right of the SUV and a tractor trailer appeared in front of the SUV.

The tractor is seen driving in a settled, relaxed fashion. The Thar driver thus decided to overtake it. (Why should he be tailing a slow-moving tractor after all? The overtaking decision makes sense). He thus embarked on the overtaking spree. The speed could have been around 80 kph at this point.

Just as he was about to overtake, the tractor started making a right turn- apparently to go to the fuel station for a refill. It, however, had no stop lamps or indicators that would warn the approaching Thar of its intentions. The driver did not even turn around and check the surroundings for any approaching vehicles before attempting the turn. These are seen in the dashboard camera recording.

The Thar driver is soon alarmed by the tractor’s intentions and hard-steers to his right, all of a sudden. But the tractor too is attempting the right turn simultaneously, and in another blink of the eye, the Thar’s left end hits the tractor’s right wheel, causing it to lose control.

Unsettled by the impact, the Thar flips a couple of times and lands inverted. The high ground clearance of the SUV and its raised centre of gravity have important roles to play in its flipping over.

The speed/ momentum would be another factor. Even though it sounds like a horrible crash, the build quality and safety offered by the Indian SUV saved its occupants from taking major injuries. All the occupants remained safe and minimal damage was caused to the vehicle as well.

The Thar earned a 4-star rating in the Global New Car Assessment Programme (GNCAP) crash tests. It was awarded four stars for both adult and child occupant protections. In this crash, despite flipping over, the pillars remained intact and the cabin wasn’t deformed much. The front and windshields were damaged severely, and so were the side glasses. The side view mirrors seem to be damaged as well. Dents and scratches can be seen on the bonnet, roof, and several other areas of the bodywork.

The Thar involved in this accident is a diesel model, powered by the 2.2L mHawk diesel engine. The impact and gravity of this crash would have been much greater if there had been another vehicle or people around, which the Thar would then run into. This incident also underlines the dire need to have a dashboard camera installed in your vehicle.

If it were not for the dashcam footage, the Thar owner would have found it harder to prove his innocence and explain it to the public, cops or insurance companies. Let’s face it, Thar owners have already set a bad reputation for themselves with their brash driving and weird mod practices that in the event of a crash, the blame naturally goes to them, even if they are innocent.