Many politicians choose vehicles with open rooftops during the rally drives to ensure maximum visibility. While many leaders choose to come out from the sunroof of the cars, others prefer open-top cars where supporters can see them all around. In Maharashtra, a politician was using a similar modified vehicle to get maximum visibility from all around but on the way, the vehicle developed a snag and something broke in the vehicle, which is likely to be a part of the suspension or the rollbar.
The video shows that the politician Manda Mhatre is sitting in the co-driver seat of a modified Mahindra Jeep, which is an Army disposal according to the registration details. The vehicle in which the politician is sitting is heavily modified and it can be seen in the video that almost all the parts used in the vehicle are aftermarket. The heavily modified vehicle can be seen with Punjab registration plates. It should be noted that the Punjab region is quite popular for such modifications and they sell modified vehicles all over India.
Coming back to the video, we can see that the modified Jeep is carrying at least 8 people on-board. The vehicle can be seen travelling at around 40-50 km/h when the incident happened. The video shows that the vehicle, which can be seen going smoothly on the road suddenly stops, which causes everyone in the vehicle to move forward. No one was wearing a seatbelt, and apart from the two passengers sitting in the front, we can spot at least six people standing in the rear of the vehicle. Due to the sudden stop, everyone moves forward and the people who were standing lose their balance and fall on the passengers sitting in the front seats.
Modifications can be dangerous
It is not known if anyone has been injured during the incident but this is exactly why the modifications are banned in India. If the modifications are not done properly or substandard parts are installed in the vehicle, they can give away after some time. This incident is caused by a broken rollbar. We can see that the SUV gets aftermarket tyres that are much bigger than the stock ones. To accommodate the bigger tyres, changes have been made to the suspension and the wheel arches. With heavier and bigger tyres in place, the suspension and the rollbar are under more stress. Also, with 8 people on the car, it is overloaded and that’s what has caused the rollbar to give away.
The Indian Motor Vehicle Act laws do not allow modification until these are tested by the RTO officially. However, it is a long and tedious process, which is why most people skip it. However, one should note that modification jobs should always be done under someone who has a vast experience in this field. Many enthusiast take their vehicle to the shop that offer the cheapest options but one should know that the cheapest is not always the best, especially when it comes to the cars and the safety of the occupants.
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