Data chip on Mercedes may hold the key to accident

The Palghar police investigating the case said that officials from the German auto major’s Pune office retrieved an electronic data chip from the mangled vehicle

Mumbai: An electronic data chip fitted in the Mercedes Benz in which industrialist Cyrus Mistry was travelling on September 4 has been sent to the automaker’s headquarters in Germany to be decrypted, and may hold the key to what really happened in the crash that killed him.

The police have already collected eyewitness statements, and are awaiting reports from the Regional Transport Office as well as the Kalina forensic science laboratory (AP)

The Palghar police investigating the case said that officials from the German auto major’s Pune office retrieved an electronic data chip from the mangled vehicle.

“The chip, which records all data about the vehicle at all times, will be taken to Germany for analysis. We are expecting a report of the same by the end of the week,” said Balasaheb Patil, Superintendent of Police, Palghar.

The police have already collected eyewitness statements, and are awaiting reports from the Regional Transport Office as well as the Kalina forensic science laboratory.

Patil added that the investigating team will go through the automaker’s report, expected by the end of the week, and collect information pertaining to why the accident occurred.

“We had some questions for the officials, which we wanted to submit to them and seek specific answers. However, they told us that they have default parameters for such analysis which would answer our questions. It was mutually decided to wait for their report rather than limit the scope of the investigation to just a few questions, as a more detailed report will only benefit our probe,” Patil said.

The automaker said on Tuesday that it was cooperating with the authorities in the probe. “As a responsible brand respecting customer privacy, our team is cooperating with the authorities where possible, and we will provide any clarifications to them directly as required,” a statement from the company read.

There will also be an investigation into other details like the car’s tyre pressure, speed, brake fluid, condition of the steering wheel, and status of seat belts as well as airbags to ascertain the cause of the accident, Patil said.

The ill-fated vehicle, a 2017 GLC 220d 4MATIC, is equipped with seven airbags. The latest version of the all-wheel drive model comes with a price tag upwards of ₹68 lakh.

Early observations by the police indicated that “two airbags in the front inflated fully while a third, located over the rear passenger seat occupied by Mistry, inflated partially,” Patil said. The airbags installed behind the front two seats, which are meant for the rear passengers, did not inflate properly or at all.

The model has a ‘pre-safe system’ where the front seat belts can be electrically pretensioned in hazardous situations. As per Mercedes-Benz India website, the GLC’s pre-safe system reduces the forward displacement of the occupants during braking or skidding in an impending accident.

Mistry was returning from the Parsi pilgrim town of Udvada with Dr Anahita Pundole, her husband Darius, and brother-in-law Jehangir Pandole, when the GLC SUV crashed into a concrete barrier at Charoti bridge on National Highway 48. Mistry and Jehangir died on the spot, while Anahita and Darius were severely injured. They are under treatment at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai.

“Our preliminary observation is that the accident was a result of ‘error of judgement’ on part of the driver, as the accident has taken place where the six-lane highway becomes four-lane, from where one has to take the bridge to head towards Mumbai,” a police officer who is part of the investigation said.

The police found that the vehicle reached the Talasari RTO check post on National Highway-48 at around 2.12 pm, and by 2.26pm, it had reached the spot where the accident occurred, a senior police officer said. He reckoned that the vehicle was travelling at an average speed of 90 km per hour.

(With inputs from agencies)