Toyota Fortuner crashes into Skoda Kodiaq at high speed: All passengers safe even as Kodiaq catches fire [Video]

The expensive lot of SUVs sold in India are generally very well-built and quite safe. It’s probably this tough build that saved the lives of passengers who were involved in a high speed crash between a Toyota Fortuner and the Skoda Kodiaq SUVs. The incident happened on a highway near Salem bypass, at a stretch of road near Thoppur that’s notorious for crashes. Eye-witnesses state that the Fortuner merged onto the bypass without considering the oncoming traffic. The result was that it crashed into a Skoda Kodiaq SUV traveling on the bypass at high speed.

The crash led to the Skoda Kodiaq catching fire but only after both passengers exited the SUV safely. They suffered injuries in the crash, and were quickly taken to a hospital by an ambulance that arrived at the accident spot. Even the passengers in the Fortuner have been admitted to the hospital with injuries. All these details save for the actual crash are captured on the video lined up above.

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Even as the Kodiaq was burning to the ground, a fire engine arrives onto the spot to douse the flames. The damage was done though, and it seems like the Kodiaq is a total loss in the crash. All said and done, the robust build qualities of the Toyota Fortuner and Skoda Kodiaq saved the day for their passengers. Had the same accident happened to lesser built SUVs, the result could have been a lot more disastrous.

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Merging to highways needs abundant caution

Highways are meant for high-speed traffic, and the average speed of nearly every vehicle on the highway is far greater than that on city roads. This is precisely why merging onto a highway, into fast moving traffic, must be done with abundant caution. It’s a good idea to merge onto a road when there’s a gap in traffic flow. If there’s no gap in traffic flow, trying to accelerate quickly so that the difference between the merged car and merging car is minimal.

A quick note about the SUVs involved in the crash

The Toyota Fortuner involved in this crash is a first-generation version that got 2 airbags and ABS as standard. There were 2 turbo diesel engines on offer – a 2.5 liter-4 cylinder unit with 143 Bhp-320 Nm and a 3 liter-4 cylinder unit with 171 Bhp-343 Nm. 5 speed manual and torque converter automatic gearboxes were on offer, along with rear wheel drive and four wheel drive layouts. The Skoda Kodiaq is question is a first-generation model, powered by a 2 liter turbo diesel engine good for 140 Bhp-320 Nm. A 7 speed twin clutch automatic gearbox comes with standard, along with an all wheel drive layout. The Kodiaq has an impressive set off features: 9 airbags and a host of electronic aids such as  ABS + EBD, TCS and a driver alert system.