[akhilesh51]

Very sad incident. My sincere condolences to the bereaved family. The civic body and auto manufacturer need to get stringent on fire safety norms in the vehicles on roads.

Mandatory Fire Extinguishers in vehicles have been long standing proposal but as always, pure safety proposal with little or no moolah for our elected representatives usually catch the dust in files and rarely see the light of the day. Fire extinguisher would not just control the fire but is a great tool to break the windshield or rear glass and simply get out of the burning vehicle.

On a side note, I must point out that it takes a premium vehicle with reputation aka Honda to make us educated forum members sit up and discuss frailties in our system. For most vehicles (looking at Nano incidents), we too simply just blame the manufacturer.

This has to STOP! Not because it is a matter of double standards or unfair to Nano but, because it creates a mythical cocoon that people travelling in posh german and japanese cars are safe and such incidents only happen to poor souls who cannot afford better cars.

It is also an eye-opener to the fact that how little fire-safety standards are followed by manufacturers regardless of the cost of the vehicle leading to such incidents. We blindly put faith in manufacturers and vehicles with so called 5 star safety ratings when such incidents prove that best vehicles today on indian roads could make your everyday drive into your last drive.

Please spread the awareness to all people. Vehicle fires can happen to anybody and you are only safe through your own will and alacrity. Keep a fire extinguisher handy whether or not government has law. Also, Keep a small hammer or similar object in your dashboard at all times to charter your escape by breaking through the windshield in case you get stuck in such a situation.

[Blue Thunder]

Very sad indeed...may his soul rest in peace.

Any indications about the likely cause of fire ? I did not see it in any of the news reports.

[sunny310c]

Shocking news. Such a horrible way to die. Can't imagine what the family of this person must be going through, trying to make sense out of this whole thing. They must feel so cheated to have lost a loved one so needlessly.

This incident is definitely an eye opener to how huge a death trap a burning car can be and how safety mechanisms like a seat belt or central locking can complicate the situation. I suppose one should always have a fire extinguisher in a car, besides something heavy that can be used to smash the glass in case of an emergency.

RIP.

[W.A.G.7]

Sad to hear about the incident. May the soul R-I-P. There are no pictures of the burnt car anywhere, so can we assume that it was already moved by the authorities? There are some very useful suggestions here, on how to get out of such a situation. But, I am not sure how they can be implemented practically. If there is a fire some 2 feet in front of you, and you are already feeling the heat, then the natural reaction in this case would be to panic, especially when you sense that seat belts are not getting unlocked. Not to panic is theory, but practically, I think the first reaction is getting scared; whether you are trained to handle such situations or not. I myself don't know how I would have reacted to this situation; even if I would have had a fire extinguisher, or a hammer inside. I am not one of those with a very cool head.

About the authorities, less said the better. In some places, most of the safety equipment is outdated, and the personnel who are expected to use it successfully are ill-trained to handle such emergencies.

[1100D]

Very Sad and very scary, and its not like its an isolated thing. We are seeing more and more similar stories involving cars from the recent times. Even a Mercedes S class has had its share of an incident. Leaves a big question on what do we lay our trust on.

Now is the time to ask, whether our cars should probably go back to basics on a few aspects, or atleast have a manuall override on atleast one door/window.

I keep the wheel spanner under the left passenger seat of my vehicles.

[rkg]

Sad to hear about the incident. May the soul R-I-P

If Iam right, this is not the first incident of Honda cars catching fire with disastrous consequences. However our print and television media are not so obsessed with high end cars as they are with NANO.

My Indica Vista automatically unlocks all the doors as soon as the engine is switched off. Even otherwise the doors can be opened manually overriding central lock. It is of 2008 make.

locking of doors in case fire and emergencies in Honda cars is reported several times min the past. Why Honda did not take any proactive steps even after few individuals died due to this feature?

In the forum also most of the guys are blaming govt agencies rather than Honda.

Unusable fire hydrants are definite NO.

But at the same time the owner would have survived if the auto locking feature is not there in his car

[ACM]

Sad incident.

1) Fire Extinguishers for Cars are available. They do work but if the fire is in the engine one will first need to get out of the vehicle and open the bonnet to spray it.
2) If there is high amount of smoke coming from the engine bay one must immediately stop the car and get out.
3) Glass breaking hammers are available and they must be kept in the dashboard for them to be of any use when in a hurry.
4) Breaking off (removing outward) the Windshield with ones legs is easier than breaking other glass as the windscreen is fitted with a glue.
5) Trying to access the rear dickey door after removing the rear seat back will take time (relatively) when in a hurry to get out. But if one has the time this method will ensure there is no damage to the vehicle.
6) Accessories fitted / installed badly tend to be the cause of many car fires.
7) Like in case of accidents where many modern cars have a feature of the doors opening similary in case of fire or temperature exceeding a specific value in the engine bay the doors should unlock - I don't think this feature is present in most vehicles. An accident due to impact when in motion would be different from an accidental fire.
8) Removing the car keys from the ignition switch unlocks the doors in many modern vehicles automatically.
9) Getting out from the Sunroof is normally too hard for a normal sized individual in a normal vehicle even it has a sunroof.

[sanjubaba]

Originally Posted by ACM

Sad incident.


3) Glass breaking hammers are available and they must be kept in the dashboard for them to be of any use when in a hurry.
4) Breaking off (removing outward) the Windshield with ones legs is easier than breaking other glass as the windscreen is fitted with a glue.

Can you please provide information on "Glass breaking hammers "? where can one procure it? I am planning to buy one along with some sort of fire extinguisher.

-Sanjubaba

[ACM]

Originally Posted by sanjubaba

Can you please provide information on "Glass breaking hammers "? where can one procure it? I am planning to buy one along with some sort of fire extinguisher.

-Sanjubaba

You could check out some thing like the hammers in this thread.

www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sis.html?_kw=Vehicle+Emergency+Glass+Break+Hammer+ Seatbelt+Cutter

or

http://www.ebay.in/itm/ORIGINAL-LIFE...-/280231570144

Just to a Google search for it and you will find many option.

But frankly even the normal carpenters hammer would do the job as well and cost much lesser.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by SedatedDrive

Pull the escape lever inside the boot to open the boot door from inside.

This is interesting. Do we have the escape lever in a FIGO? Not really seen or heard of it. Will check it right away, thanks for this important tip.

[raihan]

Very shocking incident to say the least, I've read(on t-bhp itself) that the front headrests could be removed & used to break the glass in case of an emergency. Gotta try removing the head rests once so that we know what to do when there is a need.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by 1100D

I keep the wheel spanner under the left passenger seat of my vehicles.

Although, the intention is right, but the spanner may be dangerous to keep loosely under the seat as it may hit the occupants in case of an unfortunate impact/ accident.

[chennai-indian]

Start Sarcasm:

Oh where are the TV cameras? The breaking news? Editorials? Bold headlines? Oh - It is a Honda Civic? Not a Tata Nano? Forget about it!!

End Sarcasm.

On a serious note, I keep one of those hammers (that also has a seat-belt cutter) specifically made for this kind of a situation in the dash as a precaution. Bought it when I was in US. You can get these on ebay too.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by saket77

Although, the intention is right, but the spanner may be dangerous to keep loosely under the seat as it may hit the occupants in case of an unfortunate impact/ accident.

Not kept loose but kept secured under the seat strapped to the frame.

[vidyanand]

Posting this product link that was mentioned earlier in the Swift burning incident. I guess after this Civic incident, this one or any other glass breaking tool is a must. Amazon too ships it globally.
http://www.resqme.com/what_is_resqme.html