[MetalBuff]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I think it would be great to have a LAW stating that any Indian film that shows a scene shot in a car MUST show the actors wearing their seat belts (ideally including the clicking-in shot). There's a huge potential to influence the aam junta here. If most Indians see a stupid SRK hairstyle and copy it, or a Salman dance move and replicate it while walking down the street, imagine the change this could bring.

Superb idea, Rehaan!

I guess, even chopping and pasting certain portions of the rules that Jason Statham has mouthed in Transporter2 should suffice

Knowing, Indian filmmakers and the dearth of ideas, all they need to do is replicate these scenes with someone famous. How about the stalwarts (read: mods) of T-bhp taking centre-stage?

-Shivang Gandotra

[PC77]

This is a nice safety belt commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23xr3JF-tz0

[saket77]

I hope this is not OT as we are talking about safety here, last night there was a half an hour discussion on Channel NewsX about how safe Indian cars are? There were a few good points made which I would like to summarize for our FMs who missed the show:

1. The same cars which are sold in America & Europe cost much more in India, as much as more than twice, but still they don't offer safety features which they provide in Europe...why?

2. Why despite the high mortality rate due to road traffic accidents, the Indian Govt. does not makes it mandatory, like other developed countries, to sell cars which have all state-of-the-art safety features like Seat belts for all passengers (thankfully now rear seat passengers have the right to survive), ABS, Air bags, better tires (which are thought to be better if they last 50,000 kms but don't have a proper grip on the surface!), etc.

3. Is there is nexus between the Govt. & the Automakers for not to making these changes compulsory?(as it would eat into their profits or disturb the price sensitive Indian market)

4. We, the people ourselves are not bothered too much about our own safety and hence we do not demand this from the automakers. And unless somebody goes to the court & files a case against these automakers or the Govt, this change is not going to come.

5. The profits made by the auto manufacturers by selling cars in India are much higher compared to what they make in US & Europe. Despite having enormous advertising budgets, why can't they simply spend a little on making the safety equipment standard on every car?

6. Also, last but not the least, the people themselves have to learn to drive well. Most traffic rules are disregarded by people on road. Also a problem lies with the Driving licence obtaining procedure where it is not actually a proof of attaining good driving skills but is just a document which can be procured for 500-600 rupees!

It is high time that we give value to safety...remember our own logo...You have to 'Live to drive'!

Best regards, Be safe,

Saket

[bobbafett]

Great Post! Fantastic!
This is what is needed, to make people aware of the benefits of wearing seat belts. And the dangers of not wearing one! I wish the RTO departments of our country shared this thread or similar photographs at the time of giving out licenses.

And of course, needless to say, seatbelts are the first line of defence in case of a crash. Period.

Originally Posted by saket77

4. We, the people ourselves are not bothered too much about our own safety and hence we do not demand this from the automakers. And unless somebody goes to the court & files a case against these automakers or the Govt, this change is not going to come.


6. Also, last but not the least, the people themselves have to learn to drive well. Most traffic rules are disregarded by people on road. Also a problem lies with the Driving licence obtaining procedure where it is not actually a proof of attaining good driving skills but is just a document which can be procured for 500-600 rupees!


Saket

These two are the most important points. I have seen perfectly reasonable ivy league educated Indians behave stupidly when it comes to personal safety.

And ofcourse, humility is something that does not come easliy to many middleclass people in India - hence the utter disregard for others on the road(leading to rash driving) and also thoughtless disregard for traffic rules.

[justwheels]

Brilliant Thread Rehaan. Thanks a lot for sharing the insight on Seat Belt systems and utilities.
Its actually strange that inspite of knowing what seat belts can do to save your life, people tend to avoid using ones for trivial reasons. The matter gets worsened in case of rear passengers. I mean why should a law only make you do something and not your common sense. Its the same case with Helmets on two wheelers. I wonder if the style of my hair would be of any importance if I have no head.
Wish this thread makes some people to realise the importance of seat belts and makes the wear it at all times.
Also Rehaan, it would be nice if you could share some insight about seat belts for small children and kid seats. Will be helpful a lot.

I am attaching pic of a Passat crash with a mini bus (kolkatans would know about red minis) that happened minutes before I reached that site. The driver and the passenger (father and a son duo) were standing out and making calls after the accident without a visible scratch. Thanks to the seat belts and airbags. (Pic also posted in the Accidents in India thread)



Please wear seat belts!

[pganapathy]

Why is it that Indians who go overseas obey all traffic rules and drive properly, using seatbelts but when they get back to India forget to do it. You would not believe the looks I get when I ask people to use their seatbelts. The only good thing is it mandatory in Bangalore so it is easy enough to say I don't want a fine so people use it.

I wonder if we cannot figure out a way to get people to follow rules, even if it involves heavy fines for any offence.

[EFF-EIGHT-BEE]

I too have a personal experience which further enhanced my belive in seatbelts. While waiting at red signal a Santro guy who was speeding banged into my car from behind. The jolt was bit strong, my spectacles were dangling on the steering wheel and my head stoped just a few cm from the wheels. My neck as a result sprained but no serious injury. It also showed the importance of head restraints which many people removes from thier cars. I can very well imagine that if i was not wearing the seatbelts that, my head would have definately banged on the wheel !! I am very thankful to my parents that they instill great habit in me of wearing belts.

[longhorn]

Great work Rehaan ! This thread is easily one of the most useful one in Tbhp. Recommend to make it sticky. A real eye opener to those believe that seat belts are to be worn to avoid traffic fines. It has become such a natural habit to me that i feel so very incomfortable if I have not worn it. Ditto for the helmet in case of the two wheeler. What saddens me is the fact that even educated people often fail to understand the value of these simple yet effective safety devices. The lucky ones survive and then understand the value. For the rest- there is no retake.

[pganapathy]

Come to think of it, I now remember an accident that taught me the value of seatbelts.

About a decade ago, a friend in the back seat, my ex wife and me were in my Maruti 800 (circa mid 90's) in Mozambique. We were driving back on the highway from the beach when we encountered a traffic jam getting into town. Was stopped behind a friend who was in a 4x4 with a tow bar at the back. After being stationary for about 10 seconds I looked in my rear view mirror and saw this speeding pick up and then heard his screeching of brakes a few seconds later. Slams into me from the back and despite me pressing on my brakes, my car was pushed into the tow bar of the vehicle in front. All three of us had out seatbelts on and only my ex wife hurt her knee because she bumped it into the dashboard. A bad bruise but nothing more. Can only imagine if we had not been using our seatbelts. Would have been bad

[KiloAlpha]

I remember reading somewhere on the internet, an article by paramedics and doctors who routinely attend to car crashes, that it takes 0.7 seconds for an unbelted driver to die if his car crashes into a tree at 100kmph.

2003. I drive a 1997 Maruti Zen. One moment of inattention on the highway at 80kmph, and I hit a tree at maybe 60-80kmph. Off centre impact on the driver's side. What I noticed after the crash was:
- the steering wheel (which is normally about 20 inches from my chest) was now 3 inches away from my chest
- the firewall had intruded about 6 inches
- I was alive
- my leg was fractured
- I had various miscellaneous cuts and bruises
- my cell phone was still in full working condition

I remember telling the villagers who came to help exactly how to get me out of the car. I remember calling my family and asking them to get an ambulance. Not only was I alive, I also had my wits about me.

People who saw the car, without exception, refused to believe that anyone came out alive.

Until they met me.

Why, you might ask, did I come out alive? I wore a seat belt. Long before it became the law to wear it.

The first time I ever drove a modern car was in the year 1997. It came fitted with seat belts, unlike our family workhorse Ambassador. I figured seat belts were there for a reason, and so I wore them. Plus, I had seen all racing drivers belt up, so wearing them made me feel like one of them!

The law was silent on the use of seat belts.

My friends were silent too - they simply did not know how to react or what to make of this strange new tendency.

Fast forward to 2002. By now, my kiddie cousins regularly tease me as "seat belt uncle" and my friends have decided that this man is a bit silly. OK, so what if he has lived in UK for the past 2 years, can't he drop that "phoren" habit of wearing a seat belt?

Between that fateful day in 2003 and today 12½ years have passed. I got married, had a kid, changed jobs, moved cities ... basically, life went on for me as it normally does for most middle-class Indians.

Every day, I thank God that my life is boring, routine, normal ...

[BoneCollector]

I got into the habit of putting on seatbelts when I was doing my internship in Delhi in 2005.And since then I have been using it.My elder brother also has been in the habit of belting up.Thanks to my fanaticism for TeamBHP as seen by my dad,he also started belting up and so did my mom.This is what saved us when we were rear ended by a bus on highway last November .My driver and self were in front,my mom,brother and sister-in-law were in back seat,all belted up(in a Santro) .Damage was done to car,thankfully we were safe.Now my parents put on seatbelts when they sit even on back seat.I can attribute this to TeamBHP in a way.Thanks for all the enlightment.

[Gansan]

This happened on 21.07.2012, exactly four days after my 52nd birthday; and my first road accident, if we discount a couple of falls from bike suffered over the years.

My brother's wife had purchased a 2004 model Chevrolet Optra from her colleague a few months earlier. Though she had learned to drive, she had not started driving by herself on the roads and engaged a call driver for their outings. I too had filled that roll on a few occasions, just to familiarize myself with a car bigger than my Alto. Though eight years old and 85k on the odo, the car was in excellent condition and always serviced at Sundaram Motors.

Subsequent to their son securing admission in engineering college, my brother and family planned a road trip to Velankanni. The call driver demanded Rs 3000.00 for the trip. So I thought I will drive the car myself and use the chance to visit Velankanni church, which I otherwise may not do by myself.

We started at 7.30 AM, filled up the tank at Shell and took the NH45 route first to Pondicherry. Visited and spent some time at the Aurobindo Ashram first, then at the Manakkula Vinayakar temple. Later had lunch at A2B restaurant, and I ate lightly, as is my habit during highway drives. Then started out towards velankanni around 2.00 PM. Cuddalore, Chidambaram and Sirkali passed by in quick succession, and beyond this I was on unfamiliar roads. In about two hours time we were nearing Thirukkadaiyur. The plan was to halt at Hotel Sadhabishekam there for a coffee break before proceeding. But it so happened the hotel was off the main road so I missed it and we were outside the town in no time. Loathe to back-track, I continued on towards Karaikal town, a big mistake.

A little afterward we had a loud thud on the left rear door as if someone had thrown a stone. I slowed down but as the road was deserted, I did not want to stop then and there and decided to check it at our next halt. My brother's wife and son were asleep in the rear seat and my brother was in the front passenger seat. We were discussing whether it could have been some dacoity attempt and I was distracted, but observed a STC bus approaching our road from the left at some distance, almost at a right angle. I presumed it was approaching from a side road. Too late I noticed that our own road was taking a very very steep left turn, actually an S bend. There was no warning sign. I took the bend at about 70 KPH but to my horror the car drifted towards the right half of the road; I observed the STC bus parked on his side of the road, well on his left side. I braked in panic and stood on the pedal but the car will just not obey my steering input and come out of it's right pull. The bus loomed larger, larger and larger in my windshield and finally.....WHAM! The time was 4.30 PM.

The bonnet crumpled like origami paper and punctured the wind screen. Steam started gushing through the AC vents and my brother's wife who had just woken up screamed, thinking it was smoke. The engine was still running and I turned it off in a daze. There was no damage inside the cabin and I was not hurting anywhere. I quickly checked the others and none seemed hurt, though my brother's son who was also sleeping seemed to have slightly bruised his forehead, where he had bumped the front seat. I blessed my obstinate, sometimes abrasive habit of making everyone wear their seat belts, irrespective of the seat occupied. I had overruled the objections of my brother's wife and son that very morning.

Gingerly all of us got out of the car. No need to open the bonnet; it already was open! The radiator was gone. There seemed to be loss of lube oil as well, though I could not be sure. So gently started the car, reversed it to the open ground at the side of the road and switched off. Hats off to the bus driver. He had already foreseen I was going to hit him and had pulled over to the left side and brought the bus to a dead halt. I shudder to think what could have happened otherwise. It was a Chennai bound bus; another bus passing by was flagged down and all the passengers were transferred to it. some took pity on us and offered words of comfort, and some others went cursing us all the time!

By this time the bus driver had called for support and his union guys from the nearest STC depot had come to the scene. They suggested since nobody from either the bus or car was injured, both parties go to the nearest Police station at Poraiyaar town and write a compromise letter in the presence of Police. Since it was in the middle of nowhere and it will be dark in a little while, we all thought it was a good idea. Called a friend at Karaikal town to come with a Tata Ace truck and tow the car to his home, and keep it safe until further advice. Went to the Police station where I and the bus driver wrote similar letters enumerating the sequence of events, signed and handed over to the inspector. We each kept one copy of both letters for our reference, of course.

The driver of the bus was a strange one. his bumper was bent inwards quite severely. I thought the expense will be recovered from his salary and so offered him a thousand rupees to cover the expenses. But he refused despite my insistence and said " Sir, you say you are going on a pilgrimage. Please drop the money in the hundi there as an offering. Let us both thank our stars that nothing serious happened" and left. The friend from Karaikal dropped us at Velankanni by his car. We had darshan and took an omnibus to Chennai the next day. The car was later sent by truck to Sundaram Motors Chennai at a cost of Rs 10,000 and unloaded by crane at a further cost of Rs 2500. Total repair bills, including these came to Rs 162000.00 out of which insurance paid for Rs 82000.00. The difference of Rs 80,000.00 was borne by us. Major items replaced were the bonnet, bumper, headlights, windshield, radiator and power steering pump. Engine was miraculously untouched.

The Optra was simply superb under such panic braking and attempt to pull left at the same time. A lesser car would have turned turtle. I have absolutely no doubt the seat belts saved us from certain injury, if not worse. Lessons learnt:

a) Always wear seat belt and make everyone do so. (Have always followed this).

b) If driving on unfamiliar roads, take a familiar vehicle. If driving an unfamiliar vehicle, take a familiar route. In both cases, you will come up trumps. Else, it is always risky.

Now, a bit of the supernatural - according to my mom! The next day after arriving Chennai, I went by train to office since both the Alto and the bike were away for service. I was walking along the racecourse road towards office when a cyclist came and hit my right leg from behind, tossing me on the platform. This resulted in abrasions on my hands and knee, and I took first aid and a TT shot.

The very next day, I was standing near the front gate of my apartment complex at 6.00 AM after switching on the sump and bore well motors, which is my responsibility as the secretary. I always spend a few minutes near the front gate, enjoying the early morning breeze. This day a bare-bodied man with a huge red tilak on his forehead, headed straight for me and said 'sir, I work in the nearby crematorium. I need a shirt, will you please give me one?". Though not superstitious, I was taken aback for a moment; then told him to wait, went inside and brought a not so old shirt for him. He wore it then and there, thanked me and left. My mom was very sure he was none other than the bad time stalking me, which had now been propitiated and left!


Now let the pictures speak for themselves. The blue paint on the bumper and the bonnet belong to the STC bus. The last picture was taken at Sundaram Motors, after the restoration!

[lucifer1881]

22 December 2012. I was on my way to my farm, about 52km from my home. Around 11 a.m. I got on the Outer Ring Road at Shamshabad. 6 km away was my exit.

The Outer Ring Road has a speed limit of 80 kmph. It used to be 120 kmph earlier. It was reduced to 80 kmph because of the usual band of idiots who considered it to be their own private race track. Anyway.

I was doing 80 kmph in my Bolero. As I approached my exit, I dabbed on the brakes to slow down. One of the front brakes locked. The next thing I knew the car was leaning precariously on its left. And then it happened. It turned turtle. The passenger side hit the road, then the roof, and finally it rested on the driver side. Fortunately no other vehicle was in the vicinity when it happened.

Bolero, after the accident.

By the time the car came to a rest, two other cars stopped. Their occupants got out, inquired about my well-being. I was fine. Not even a scratch. One of the passers-by called the ambulance, another called the cops. Two of my friends also turned up. All the formalities took about an hour. And then I got the car towed to the service centre. The car has been written off. That was the extent of the damage.

I lived to tell the tale because I had belted up. I always belt up. My crazy obsession with seat belts saved my life.

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

The car has been written off. That was the extent of the damage.

I lived to tell the tale because I had belted up. I always belt up. My crazy obsession with seat belts saved my life.

Glad that you came out alive. The car looks fairly new. Do you mind me asking why was the Bolero written off. From the pictures the damage doesn't look so severe.

[lucifer1881]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Glad that you came out alive. The car looks fairly new. Do you mind me asking why was the Bolero written off. From the pictures the damage doesn't look so severe.

The car is a 2009 August model run 65,000 km. It was written of because the cost of repairing exceeded the IDV. The damage may not look severe but it needed a new body shell to be put back to shape. The body shell cost approximately INR 3,00,000.

Adding the other repairs such as painting, suspension, chassis, etc. the estimate was approximately INR 5.27 lakh out of which Insurance contribution was coming to Rs. 4.3 lakh. The IDV was Rs. 4.2 lakh. Insurance company agreed to pay Rs. 3.8 lakh which I accepted.