Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


View Poll Results: Would you like your car to have ABS and Airbags
Want ABS 146 78.07%
Want Airbags 105 56.15%
They dont help, not required 2 1.07%
Cost too much, otherwise I like to have them fitted 41 21.93%
Not sure 3 1.60%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 187. You may not vote on this poll

Closed Thread
  Search this Thread
42,814 views
Old 9th December 2010, 14:11   #241
Senior - BHPian
 
adimicra's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 2,006
Thanked: 2,441 Times
Re: :) Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
Not always. What safety priority can a buyer have when he has a budget for Alto K10 lets say VXi top end variant which does not have either ABS or Air bags.

Now if he was to increase his budget so that he can fit in a car which has atleast ABS as the bare min safety feature then further down the line he has grapple with the car loan EMI, increasing fuel prices, maintenance costs etc thereby forcing the poor chap to rethink safety priorities. He might as well live with the fact that there are hundreds of other fellow people who dont have the safety priorities.

Thats where the govt should in fact force the car manufacturers to provide the bare minumum safety features in their car variants starting from the base models. Otherwise people are bound to assume that Clear lens headlamps is a great safety feature provided in the base models and live with it.
Not everyone buys Alto. There are lacs of people who have bought the Swift VXi and many other cars which cost upward of 5 lacs but without the safety features.
having personally talked to people also I got the general feeling that ABS and airbags are considered a luxury for them and not the most important factor.
adimicra is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 14:13   #242
Senior - BHPian
 
anilisanil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Pune
Posts: 1,420
Thanked: 291 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Originally Posted by adimicra View Post

The fact is - people do not have safety as their top most requirement. This is not a hypothesis but a fact. I really don't care if anyone accepts it or not.

.
LOL, we are not nuclear scientists to not to care about acceptance/rejection of our thesis.

It is true that people still do not buy cars with safety features, but attributing that only to the general aversion to safety features is wrong. And I am sure you will agree, if I tell you that the most sold car models of India do not have these safety features even in top end variants.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
Not always. What safety priority can a buyer have when he has a budget for Alto K10 lets say VXi top end variant which does not have either ABS or Air bags.

Now if he was to increase his budget so that he can fit in a car which has atleast ABS as the bare min safety feature

Thats where the govt should in fact force the car manufacturers to provide the bare minumum safety features in their car variants starting from the base models.
Very much true and that is my point too! (ah! and that rhymes :P)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
Maybe some of them are "upgrading" from taking their entire family on a bike. How much safer must a car feel to those people?

I'm sure that we all feel safe in our cars: that steel box is a comforting thing. We need to really consider that it is not as safe as we think. Checking out the accidents thread helps me to remember.

you are bang on target, it is these upgraders who "feel", and may be rightly so, that an enclosed tin box on four wheels is safer than an open 2-wheeler.

For them, may be the models with ABS and airbags may be even fit in the picture and they can't just help it.

Last edited by anilisanil : 9th December 2010 at 14:16.
anilisanil is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 14:15   #243
Senior - BHPian
 
srishiva's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 4,375
Thanked: 2,256 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Since manufacturers keep upping the price of cars now and then, they should take a bold step (govt can make them mandatory) and introduce these two features on ALL cars.
srishiva is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 14:30   #244
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 1,051
Thanked: 621 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Air bags and/or ABS should be offered at entry level trims too, as optional. These features are currently available only on top-of-the line models.
simplyself is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 14:38   #245
BHPian
 
vsk2009's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Goa
Posts: 156
Thanked: 23 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

It is true that car manufacturers also project ABS and air bag as part of luxury. Airbag and ABS should be available in in all or at least in middle model and top one can get some extra luxury features. What honda has done with Jazz is a welcome movement.
vsk2009 is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 14:44   #246
Senior - BHPian
 
anilisanil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Pune
Posts: 1,420
Thanked: 291 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Originally Posted by vsk2009 View Post
It is true that car manufacturers also project ABS and air bag as part of luxury. Airbag and ABS should be available in in all or at least in middle model and top one can get some extra luxury features. What honda has done with Jazz is a welcome movement.
But Jazz, thanks to its pricing, is as good as a luxury to own. But that is besides the point.

We really do not want the cars in the starting segment to be overtly priced because they have ABS and/or air bags as a standard. So I only half welcome Honda's move!
anilisanil is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 17:47   #247
Senior - BHPian
 
adimicra's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 2,006
Thanked: 2,441 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Originally Posted by anilisanil View Post
LOL, we are not nuclear scientists to not to care about acceptance/rejection of our thesis.

It is true that people still do not buy cars with safety features, but attributing that only to the general aversion to safety features is wrong. And I am sure you will agree, if I tell you that the most sold car models of India do not have these safety features even in top end variants.

Your sense of humour is awesome dude! you are confused between fact and hypothesis - read carefully what I said.
Who told you nuclear scientists do not care about acceptance/rejection? I guess you are not one of them

While what you say is true, there are many hot selling models like Swift/Ritz/Manza etc which offer ABS+Airbags but I seldom see people buying those. Don't tell me a person spending 5-7 lakh on a car can't afford the additional amount for those.

My comments were not targeted at anybody but your comments are targeted towards me! hmmmmmmmmmm... do I smell something burning?

Last edited by adimicra : 9th December 2010 at 17:49.
adimicra is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 18:07   #248
Senior - BHPian
 
anilisanil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Pune
Posts: 1,420
Thanked: 291 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Originally Posted by adimicra View Post
Your sense of humour is awesome dude! you are confused between fact and hypothesis - read carefully what I said.
Who told you nuclear scientists do not care about acceptance/rejection? I guess you are not one of them

While what you say is true, there are many hot selling models like Swift/Ritz/Manza etc which offer ABS+Airbags but I seldom see people buying those. Don't tell me a person spending 5-7 lakh on a car can't afford the additional amount for those.

My comments were not targeted at anybody but your comments are targeted towards me! hmmmmmmmmmm... do I smell something burning?
First things first, your point that Indian customers are not buying cars with safety features ONLY and ONLY because they DONT want to spend the extra money is NOT a fact and there is no way you can prove it.

Second, If I were you, I will go to dictionary.com and type what is thesis and what hyptohesis is.

For your reference:

Thesis:

a dissertation on a particular subject in which one has done original research.

Example:

What I did just now!


Hypothesis:
a mere assumption or guess

Example for hypthesis:
Quote:
Your sense of humour is awesome dude! you are confused between fact and hypothesis - read carefully what I said.
Who told you nuclear scientists do not care about acceptance/rejection? I guess you are not one of them

My comments were not targeted at anybody but your comments are targeted towards me! hmmmmmmmmmm... do I smell something burning?

Now just for your reference, my comments are pure debate and are targeted at your comments(and not you however much you like to think they are), which is why, I guess we are discussing this. Yes I smell something burning and I dont even need to check where it is coming from (did I say something against Jazz?). Call 101 in case of fire mate

Last edited by anilisanil : 9th December 2010 at 18:21.
anilisanil is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 19:01   #249
Senior - BHPian
 
Mi10's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Chennai
Posts: 1,169
Thanked: 3,267 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Originally Posted by adimicra View Post
While what you say is true, there are many hot selling models like Swift/Ritz/Manza etc which offer ABS+Airbags but I seldom see people buying those. Don't tell me a person spending 5-7 lakh on a car can't afford the additional amount for those.

Lxi, Vxi, Zxi whatever it is, Ultimaltey just the on road price that matters.
We dont know the exact reasons for people buying a car. For some its just another commodity thats available in the market, for some its the ultimate dream to achieve in his/her life time.

You never know the affordability and priorities of the person buying a 5-7 L car. It may as well be a strech. When we brought the Swift, the Vxi version itself was a strech, so we didnt opt for the ABS version, even though i was fully aware of the fact that ABS is a life saving equipment.

Would have been really interesting if the seatbelt was thrown into picture here. I am sure its a far more significant equipment to have and use than ABS and Airbag. Now how many of us wear seatbelts regularly ?

Leave alone life saving equipment, there are thousands who put fenders and bull bars on cars restricting the exposure of crumple zones when in an impact. Thats life endangering equipment, i should say.
I think we should use 100% of what is available first.
Mi10 is offline  
Old 9th December 2010, 23:29   #250
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Thad E Ginathom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 10,958
Thanked: 26,126 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Now how many of us wear seatbelts regularly ?
A surprising number of BHPians have realised how essential a seatbelt is.

Don't ask if I wear a seatbelt regularly, ask if I ever drive without one. The answer is never! I don't even like to be a passenger without a seatbelt.

However, if they were to ne made optional, a horrifying number would elect to do without them. Several of my passengers that I have asked to use the belt don't even know how.

Last edited by Thad E Ginathom : 9th December 2010 at 23:31.
Thad E Ginathom is offline  
Old 4th July 2012, 10:52   #251
Distinguished - BHPian
 
noopster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Pune
Posts: 9,236
Thanked: 12,901 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

ABS saved me today.

As I merged onto the bypass highway at 7:15 this morning, there was this big truck lumbering along in front of me. So picked up speed in an attempt to overtake him and since it was raining steadily was concentrating hard on my right ORVM. Suddenly spotted a car which was easily doing 90 and had no chance of slowing down in the wet so pulled back into left lane only to realise to my horror that the trucker had come to a dead halt right ahead of me. Obviously no brake lights or any indication that he was going to stop in the center of the lane.

I must have been doing 50 then. Hit brakes HARD, felt ABS kick in and ended up with half my bonnet under the truck's rear side. The other car whizzed past me as I shuddered to a halt with the truck's tailgate in my full windscreen view.

No impact and thankfully no jutting rods or anything. The car is unscathed, and so am I (except for being badly shaken). Said a small prayer and drove on. Waved my fist at the truckie but it really wasn't his fault: he had to stop because there was another truck parked on the side of the road and he didn't have enough space to squeeze through.

My other car, which I took to work yesterday, does NOT have ABS. I used to tell myself, it has sharp brakes, am safe. But not anymore. If I had skidded even slightly sideways, it would have put me in the path of that speeding other car. And if I had-God forbid- gone crashing into the truck, this car has airbags as well.

This incident has only reinforced my firm belief that ALL vehicles on our roads need to be equipped with safety equipment. This is going to be an absolute no-compromise area for me going forward.
noopster is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 4th July 2012, 11:15   #252
BHPian
 
quakerme's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 117
Thanked: 66 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

Quote:
Originally Posted by noopster View Post
ABS saved me today.

As I merged onto the bypass highway at 7:15 this morning, there was this big truck lumbering along in front of me. So picked up speed in an attempt to overtake him and since it was raining steadily was concentrating hard on my right ORVM. Suddenly spotted a car which was easily doing 90 and had no chance of slowing down in the wet so pulled back into left lane only to realise to my horror that the trucker had come to a dead halt right ahead of me. Obviously no brake lights or any indication that he was going to stop in the center of the lane.

I must have been doing 50 then. Hit brakes HARD, felt ABS kick in and ended up with half my bonnet under the truck's rear side. The other car whizzed past me as I shuddered to a halt with the truck's tailgate in my full windscreen view.

No impact and thankfully no jutting rods or anything. The car is unscathed, and so am I (except for being badly shaken). Said a small prayer and drove on. Waved my fist at the truckie but it really wasn't his fault: he had to stop because there was another truck parked on the side of the road and he didn't have enough space to squeeze through.

My other car, which I took to work yesterday, does NOT have ABS. I used to tell myself, it has sharp brakes, am safe. But not anymore. If I had skidded even slightly sideways, it would have put me in the path of that speeding other car. And if I had-God forbid- gone crashing into the truck, this car has airbags as well.

This incident has only reinforced my firm belief that ALL vehicles on our roads need to be equipped with safety equipment. This is going to be an absolute no-compromise area for me going forward.
That was a Narrow escape!
Its makes me think why cant they bring a law that states ABS should be mandatory for all vehicles, I don't understand the logic of giving an option to the manufacturer to compromise on customer safety as well as others.
The law of the land merrily took the decision to remove all sun film not even considering the practical difficulties.
quakerme is offline  
Old 4th July 2012, 11:19   #253
BHPian
 
Neilguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 172
Thanked: 54 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

I too was saved from impact a few years ago, thanks to ABS. It was raining significantly and I was doing speeds of 75+ kmph on a multi-lane highway. Suddenly I realized that vehicles in my lane had come to a standstill, and I did not have enough distance to stop in my lane without bumping into the car in front of me. I braked with my heart in my mouth and felt the familiar pulsating sensation of ABS kicking in. Thankfully I checked my mirrors and saw there was no vehicle in my right lane where there was an extra car length of space available for me to stop. I coolly changed lanes to my right (which wouldn't have been possible without ABS) and thankfully stopped half a car-length after the car in my previous lane! Without ABS I would have surely banged into the vehicle in front of me, but thanks to ABS (and seat belts of course) there was no impact or injury to anyone.
Neilguy is offline  
Old 4th July 2012, 11:40   #254
Senior - BHPian
 
Fordmanchau's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 1,666
Thanked: 340 Times
Re: Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

I have voted for the 'not sure' option. Here's why,

I have a old school Ikon, with odo at 28K kms of which more than 10,000kms are on the highway, but that doesn't matter as ABS per se is said to be useful in both highway and city driving conditions.

My car doesn't have ABS or airbags. I have had a few emargency braking situations, but my brakes have done well till now and I never had a situation where I lost control over my steering. So as per my experience, I am doing well without any Assisted Braking System.

Well ABS may be useful, I don't deny that, but its major utility is in having un-interrupted steering control in situations of emergency braking and I hope I am not wrong when I say that it doesn't necessarily help in improved braking under different conditions.

I have read that ABS, may not help in improved braking if your driving on surfaces with sand/gravel or under wet conditions. So I have a mixed feeling. I would rather have the control of braking myself than to give it to the ABS system, which may or may not modulate the braking depending on the conditions and would help in having steering control.

I am not sure it would be of too much help to me. It may be good to have, but I am not missing it


Quote:
Originally Posted by quakerme View Post
That was a Narrow escape!
.
Indeed a narrow escape noopster. Probably you were concentrating too hard on the right ORVM that you failed to judge the distance between the truck and your car on account of which you ended up driving too close to the truck. But I feel that at the speeds of 50kmph even under wet conditions normal disc brakes without any ABS support would also have been fine.

@neilguy's incident above IMO aptly illustrates the utility of ABS.

Last edited by Fordmanchau : 4th July 2012 at 11:52.
Fordmanchau is offline  
Closed Thread

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks