Man killed in high-speed Range Rover test drive

An accident during a high-speed test drive of a Rs 65-lakh Range Rover Evoque claimed the life of a 31-year-old businessman and left his wife with a fractured spine.

The deceased, Sagar Jayaram, an interior decorator, was a resident of Girinagar. Sagar’s wife Sandhya (27) sustained a fracture in her spine and is admitted to the BGS Global Hospital off Uttarahalli Main Road near Kengeri.

Sagar’s son Samarth (6), and his friend and business partner Gowtham, and the demo driver Shivakumar escaped unhurt in the accident near Hoskerehalli toll booth on NICE Road, in west Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon.

Sagar planned to buy a Range Rover and had booked a trial drive on Tuesday from a Jaguar showroom in Rupena Agrahara on Hosur Road. The five of them, including demo driver Shivakumar, took the NICE Road for the demo and were headed towards their home in Girinagar around 2.35 pm.

“It happened in a couple of seconds,” said a toll booth staffer. The car was travelling at a speed of at least 150 to 180 kmph. It looked like the driver lost control and avoided hitting the toll booths, the police said. There were no tyre marks on the road to indicate braking, said a police officer at the spot. The car initially hit one of the extreme left dividers meant to segregate vehicles.

It then hit the guard rails, and ploughed through a fence and fell 10 to 12 metres down an embankment. The toll booth staff and other motorists rushed to the victims’ help and tried to extricate them from the car fearing it could catch fire.

The police rushed to the spot and shifted the victims to BGS Global Hospital. Prima facie it looks like Sagar was driving the car with the demo driver Shivakumar in the passenger’s seat. The car flipped over several times and Sagar was found bleeding from his face and ears. The driver and the co-passenger were wearing seat belts and the air-bags deployed.

Sagar was declared brought dead at the hospital after which his body was shifted to Victoria Hospital for postmortem.

Sagar’s sister, who is abroad, is on her way to Bengaluru after she was informed of the accident, the police said. The Byatrayanapura traffic police have registered a case and are investigating.