Crash worthiness/safety features

[v_s_natarajan]

In the last two to three months, i saw a three accidents, in front of my eyes. all minor ones.

A corolla stopped suddenly and a M80 hit it with a thud. The rear bumper of corolla was just a huge dent.

Another corolla moving at not more than 20KMPH hit head on with a temp and trust me the front became a junk and the driver was bleeding.
The third invoved the NHC and an Auto and city's front was smashed and the front occupants were injured .
all were at slow speeds.
I sometimes, wonder all these cars would survive, god forbid any serious accidents.
I am frankly worried.
I bouht my Fiat palio ELX only because it was built like a slug and I am now going in fusion.
any thoughts?

[amitoj]

Were the injured wearing seatbelts?

[kbk_75]

Well, the fact that the cars you mentioned above were "crumpled", so to speak, actually indiacates that their innate crash protection is working. The crumple zones are designed to distort in the event of an impact, thereby absorbing as much energy from the crash as possible and transmitting as little as possible to the passenger compartment. I know we see these crumpled front and rear ends and wonder how a seemingly minor crash caused so much damage, but that's the way it is.

In the event of a truly serious accident though, I'd have to say that luck is the major factor, because no car is designed to withstand a serious collision at speed.

[v1p3r]

the simple fact is, seatbelts save lives. i've experienced this, and ask anyone, all the abbreviations (ESP, ABS, TCS, EBD, SBC) don't make a pennyworth of difference if you're not buckled up. just ask Diana. the only person that survived was wearing a seatbelt. this, in an S-class!

on the other hand, an s-class may be safer, but i'd rather drive a...

viper

[Deeps]

lol, ask Diana? Anyway, seatbelts and airbags would probably do most of the 'protecting' although i'd argue that all the gizmos such as ABS, TCS etc. do have a role to play.

[v1p3r]

abs tcs etc are more of control and stability aids than pure crash safety devices. if you do crash, the seatbelt is your first line of defence. only that and airbags can help.

[.anshuman]

NHC and corolla are far safer cars than the marutis,even accent has a very low ncap rating,i think nothing much can be done till safety norms are brought in action by the government or the supreme court

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by Deeps

lol, ask Diana? Anyway, seatbelts and airbags would probably do most of the 'protecting' although i'd argue that all the gizmos such as ABS, TCS etc. do have a role to play.

Well ,

ABS , EBD , ESP etc are very very useful features in a car and can really prevent you in most of the odd circumstances .
Ofcourse , seatbelts and airbags too are very useful bet , but these safety features will prevent you reaching that level , where airbags could work ! Hence , cutting short the work of Airbags .

Atleast , in my case ABS would ve helped a lot , read , "THINK SAFETY , THINK ABS" (a very useful thread for guys , who think just the way you do) !!!

[v_s_natarajan]

The point is that the manufacturers do not care and give a damn about the drivers and occupants of the car. neither the buying public nor the govt.. is interested.

I have watched crash testing done in some Ford Plants in dearborn where i used to live.
I do not hear the korean, japanese, american manufacturing plants based out of India doing the same in their Indian plants.
I keep watching the accident photo"s that come in the newspapers and most of the times, I cannot identify the cars that were involved. they would be smashed beyong recognitions.
Some typical cars involved are the maruti Omni;s 800's.
Thick pillars, side Impact resistent beams, crumple zones, thicker gauges of the metal sheets: what i mean is these should be done in the fabrication stage itself.

I know, if you do all these, M800 will cost 4 lakhs and nobody will buy that.
But still.

aNY THOUGHTS FROM TE ESTEMMED MEMBERS?

[Technocrat]

The companies only are not to be blamed. Tell me how many ABS vehicles of a car are sold wrt to total sael of that car i.e. out of the entire Accent sales how many are ABS ones.. People want everything cheap, how will the companies do that if they dont get numbers. They are obviously not here for the charity.

People done even use a simple device like seat belts & then they claim of porr build quality. SO in short they neither want to use any basic safety gear nor do they want to spend for it. So who is to be blamed, we or the manufacturers ???

[v_s_natarajan]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

The companies only are not to be blamed. Tell me how many ABS vehicles of a car are sold wrt to total sael of that car i.e. out of the entire Accent sales how many are ABS ones.. People want everything cheap, how will the companies do that if they dont get numbers. They are obviously not here for the charity.

People done even use a simple device like seat belts & then they claim of porr build quality. SO in short they neither want to use any basic safety gear nor do they want to spend for it. So who is to be blamed, we or the manufacturers ???

Still, I cannot understand manufacturers selling cars without minimum safety features.
Aftreall, human lives are involved.
whether they are here for business or charity.

[RX135]

The indian public mentality is very obvious with the huge outcry against helmet compulsion. Why blame manufacturers? It's governments duty to enforce the rules properly. Why would a company manufacture an expensive safe car, if its rival can get away by selling a cheap but unsafe car.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by v_s_natarajan

Still, I cannot understand manufacturers selling cars without minimum safety features.
Aftreall, human lives are involved.
whether they are here for business or charity.

Ok tell me, what according to you are minimum safety features, that any car which is sold should have ???

Originally Posted by RX135

The indian public mentality is very obvious with the huge outcry against helmet compulsion. Why blame manufacturers? It's governments duty to enforce the rules properly. Why would a company manufacture an expensive safe car, if its rival can get away by selling a cheap but unsafe car.

Rightly said bro

[sandeepdeshmukh]

Following are the examples of classic thinking.

1. If one gets hurt, it was due to your fate (Taqdeer me likha thaa).
2. If someone dies, they say 'Samay aaya tha!'.
3. You are not lawbreaker unless u r caught (also knows how to manage that too)

Don't expect the govt to educate people for everything or to come up with rules for practically every single thing. What abt enforcement? I read a query on site, asking about putting 1.1L disel engine in M800 (aiming 30-35kmpl). by RTO law it is outright illegal, but can it be stopped? The obsession for FE is main deterrent. Safety awareness should come from within. Probably auto companies needs to promote that the safety gizmos actually saves life.

Otherwise 1 death in accident every few seconds & proliferation of unsafe Korean & Japanese cars will only make things worst.

[v_s_natarajan]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Ok tell me, what according to you are minimum safety features, that any car which is sold should have ???



Rightly said bro

the minimum thing I want the manufactureres to do is to have a crash testing facility, subject their cars to it and be monitored/verified/observed by JD Power