A car is as good as the person behind the wheel- A case study

Eng_iti · November 9, 2017, 5:46pm

all i know is wether experienced or not death was inevitable. Nobody wants to die.

Brian · November 9, 2017, 7:36pm

Sielewi huyu driver at all, tire ya marc ikiburst, the steering wheel inajilock!!! How did he managed to swerve?

The_real_voice · November 9, 2017, 7:50pm

I have got to say seems he was a manual driver and wasnt that expirienced with automatic cars .Heck the first weeks i drove an automatic car it came with problems like at times i found myself trying to clutch while stoping and putting the car on reverse thinking am on free gear.

Touchlyrics · November 10, 2017, 5:21am

Now this man will live his whole life being castigated for decisions that he made for less than 5 seconds.

Mkuwe serious!!! Some of you are a living catalogue of mistakes and failures and you dare judge this man.

Kwendeni uko!!!

Alpha_Dog · November 10, 2017, 5:40am

When death comes knocking you cannot escape your fate…but what I have learnt from this incident is never to use a guard rail to stop your car in case of an emergency…

Grundy · November 10, 2017, 7:30am

kermit:

In recent events where the governor of Nyeri Dr Gakuru left us, there have been all kinds of theories bandied around. It dumbfounded me how the rail found its way through the car like a spear.
After reading this driver report of the accident, I have come to the conclusion that the man did not have to die.
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001259686/driver-of-ill-fated-car-speaks-on-crash-that-killed-nyeri-governor

Samuel Kinyanjui, the driver of the ill-fated vehicle that killed Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru, Wednesday recounted how the horror crash unfolded.
The driver, who sustained minor injuries from the crash, spoke to us from Nairobi Hospital.

On Wednesday, Kinyanjui gave a blow by blow account of how the accident occurred on that rainy morning as he drove the governor to a television appearance in Nairobi.

He had started the journey at around 5.30am and reached Kabati about an hour and a half later.

“We were late but the governor told me not to speed because it was raining and the road was slippery. I was driving around a speed of between 105 and 110 kilometres per hour,” he said.

All hell broke loose when one of the rear tyres burst.

“…but as I slowed down and was steering the vehicle to the side, I realised that a lorry which was behind me was approaching at a high speed. I had to swerve suddenly to avoid the lorry which was trying to overtake me,” he recollected.

He explained that he deliberately decided to ram into the guard rail.

"I thought if I hit the guard rail the car would stop. I feared that if the lorry hit me from the rear, it would push us into the middle of the road and cause a multiple cars accidents (sic).

As they were avoiding the lorry, he recounted, the car hit the guardrail and upon the impact his airbag deployed, blocking his view and rammed his foot on the accelerator pedal.

The force of the accelerating car which had already hit the guard rail forced the left front wheel of the top-of-the-range Mercedes E250 off its axle and the guard rail punctured the car’s body.
At that point the governor gasped “God!”

“I don’t understand how the guard rail got into the car,” he said.

Kinyanjui had chauffeured the governor for barely two weeks.

He explained that he had worked as a driver at the Nyeri County Referral Hospital before he was deployed to the governor’s office.

“I have been working with the county for four years,” he said.

Police chase car driver Peter Mwaniki said when they arrived at the scene, they found car’s still revving although it had been stopped by the guard rail.

“The driver’s foot was still on the accelerator and he was stuck in his seat. I opened the door for the driver but he could not get out as he was trapped. The governor too was trapped,” Mr Mwaniki added.

The driver said the governor, who was seated at the front, had to wait for 40 minutes to be rescued.

Although Kinyanjui said he could not tell when the vehicle was last serviced, he said it was in good shape.

It was the same vehicle that had been used by Governor Samuel Wamathai and Nderitu Gachagua before him, he said, and insisted that he was not speeding.

“I was doing about 105 and 110 and the governor was comfortable with the speed and told me to maintain it since it was raining,” he said.

He explained that he was directed to always be within a 50-metre range with the chase car, which was behind them.

The journey from Nyeri was uneventful and the governor engaged in banter with the occupants of the vehicle “in his usual self”.
From a driving point of view, these are the mistakes I see that led to the chain of events.

Mistake 1

[I]Kinyanjui had chauffeured the governor for barely two weeks.

He explained that he had worked as a driver at the Nyeri County Referral Hospital before he was deployed to the governor’s office.

“I have been working with the county for four years,” he said.[/I]
A car is as good as the driver. In my circles we call it driver mod.
You can have all the latest technology and safety features form Germany or Japan but if the driver does not understand them or even know they exist, he might as well be driving an ox drawn cart.
The driver of Governor should be a person with years of experience on the road and trained in defensive driving.

Mistake 2

"…but as I slowed down and was steering the vehicle to the side, I realised that a lorry which was behind me was approaching at a high speed. I had to swerve suddenly to avoid the lorry which was trying to overtake me," he recollected.
The road is dual carriage at that spot. this means that the Mercedes was in the inner, fast lane. the lorry was in the outer lane, closest to the shoulder where i would expect the merc would have its tyre changed. maybe the lorry driver had no idea that the merc was striken and desperately looking for shore. that would explain why he was still speeding instead. the hazards on the merc should have been on at this point. if not, that was an omission by Mr Kinyanjui.

Mistake 3

He explained that he deliberately decided to ram into the guard rail.
“I thought if I hit the guard rail the car would stop.”
Well, that is what guardrails are supposed to do. However, the angle at which you hit the rail and the rail design are very critical.
Remember the benz is not in the lane next to the rail. it has to move across the road so as to hit the rail. this is also at a substantial speed. this alters the angle of impact to be optimum to the kind of damage the benz sustained.
The first thing the driver should have done is to slow down while in his own lane, put hazards on and look for the opportune moment to go across the lane, and to the road shoulder.
However, his thinking is oldschool- use objects to slow down the car. It is also self serving- the side he was ramming the rail with, is not his side. incase anything went wrong, he would get the least impact.
Remember also that the tyres are run flats or tubeless at worst. a tyre burst should not trigger violent movements.

Mistake 4

[I]Police chase car driver Peter Mwaniki said when they arrived at the scene, they found car’s still revving although it had been stopped by the guard rail.

“The driver’s foot was still on the accelerator and he was stuck in his seat.
upon the impact his airbag deployed, blocking his view"[/I]
This is outrageous. I thought the driver was moving across the lanes at reduced speed. this shows he was moving across while on the throttle.
he should have slowed down and waited for the lorry to pass. at that time in the morning there are few cars on the road anyway.
if the foot had been on the brakes, the jamming would have worked in their favour.

Mistake 5

The governor was seated at the front.

Verdict
An inexperienced driver made all the wrong decisions that led to the death of Dr Gakuru.
It is high time people driving us and our leaders were vetted and properly trained. include PSV drivers hapa.
KENHA should revisit guardrail design and installation.

Hii yote ni umeffi na ujuaji. Shit can happen to anybody as we are human beings so hii analysis yote ni BS. The only lesson from the governor’s accident is that we should always be careful on the road.

kermit · November 10, 2017, 9:20am

hehehe.
who exactly ?
the moment my mistakes lead to someone dying, judge me. kill me too even, if my shame will not have led me to off myself then.
in Japan they have something called hara-kiri.
maybe that is why we still buying 8 year old reconditioned shit from them, but it still works.
in the meantime we still dying from cholera :D.
we have allowed mediocrity to sink so much into us, iko kwa DNA sasa.

kermit · November 10, 2017, 10:16am

sawa bwana traffic commandant

karema-hitI · November 10, 2017, 2:31pm

I’ve had several blowouts one of which happened on an overloaded pickup (2.3 tons) driving at 130kph on the same road when everyone is rushing upcountry on a Friday evening and I managed to stop without drama. I’m not a good driver,I may have been lucky. But what I’m certain of is in all instances I did not panic. I’m not judging but I think that driver panicked.

Nawa_Ule · November 10, 2017, 5:25pm

At such moments, these ‘leaders’ suddenly realize that their ‘leaderlessness’ knows no mheshimiwa ama raia! If only resources were put in place for high end med-evacs facilities ad equipment like choppers, jaws-of-life, na kadhalika, huyo mheshimiwa hangekaa hapo 40 mins aki-bleed out. Hiyo level V hospital alipelekwa am sure alikuwa anaangaliwa tu na hao ma-stude wa nursing (i.e. if he was still alive), cos Doctors can never be found in such facilities at such early times. I equate that occurrence to Mtego wa Panya,ushikao waliomo na wasiokuwemo. One squanders funds meant for proper road construction, a shoddy job is later done, and that road ends up taking the life of their friend. So they contribute for their friends funeral. Or a hospital’s funds for purchasing machines, and drugs are squandered. A relative requiring emergency treatment finds themselves in that hospital, and dies cos they can’t be assisted. Such a vicious circle.

Nawa_Ule · November 10, 2017, 5:29pm

No. That driver was flying. A benz once collided with a Prado hapo Nyayo roundabout. Whilst the prado was towed away without the front left wheel, the Merc was driven away, with barely a dent. Mercs are fairly strong machines that I doubt can be impaled in such a manner as that Governor’s car was.

Koolibah · November 11, 2017, 5:06pm

Hapo iko kitu and only Dennis Muigai can tell us. The lorry hit them. Nishawai pata birst na nissan b14 driving at 80 and lived to fukc a bukusu gal, mercedes je?

Friendly · November 11, 2017, 7:28pm

Accidents happen at any time and to anyone but investigations and analysis are done to learn from the mistakes. IMO, first of all the driver lies abt the speed of the car…for the rail to go through the car for more than 10m the car must have been at 120+. Its only that if he admits this then he goes straight to jail and again its human nature to run away from blames. Secondly, after the tyre burst (whether it happened or not), the driver panicked and made a series of mistakes. Probably even tr lorry wasnt closing in that fast to hit them. Again since when do you hit objects at high speed to stop the car!? That is just insane and even in cases where you have to take such drastic actions like when a lorry loses brakes downhill you are advised to topple the lorry or hit a tree before it gains momentum. I strongly feel the driver could have done far much better to save the life of the beloved governor