[EagleEye]

Bullbars, in addition to not being safe for pedestrians as well as other cars, also impede the working of the airbags. So not a good idea in my opinion.

[gk01]

I remember watching a video of a crash test of a 7 seater car, it was hit in the rear and the last row dummies, if replaced with humans would stand no chance.

Most of our MPVs fall into this category, boot sizes are (in some cases significantly) smaller than those of even hatchbacks bringing down the rear crumple zones significantly. Shouldn't there then be additional considerations in improving the safety of these category of vehicles to make up for it.

Our highways are ruled by these MPVs and the last row seats are mostly occupied by kids.

Maybe Rear bull bars help here and if they do, should they be made mandatory in MPVs. They anyway don't cause a harm to pedestrians so no downside.

Even Airbags won't help here since this is not a frontal collision.

[joybhowmik]

There's another aspect of safety often overlooked on Indian cars. Today a few large manufacturers sell entry-level cars with no ORVM/only driver side ORVM. To add to this obvious disregard for safe driving, many drivers actually prefer folding their ORVMs 'so that they are out of the way'.

I wonder if the manufacturers and these drivers feel they can drive without visual inputs from the sides , merely through intuition.
Some drivers aggravate this unsafe condition further by not checking their blind spot before changing lanes or committing to a turn.

I wish that ORVM's be made mandatory in every car in India (just like they did with seat-belts), not that it would invite 100% compliance, but even if a few drivers had these installed, it would lessen the incidence of side-impact crashes.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

There's another aspect of safety often overlooked on Indian cars. Today a few large manufacturers sell entry-level cars with no ORVM/only driver side ORVM. To add to this obvious disregard for safe driving, many drivers actually prefer folding their ORVMs 'so that they are out of the way'.

I wonder if the manufacturers and these drivers feel they can drive without visual inputs from the sides , merely through intuition.
Some drivers aggravate this unsafe condition further by not checking their blind spot before changing lanes or committing to a turn.

I wish that ORVM's be made mandatory in every car in India (just like they did with seat-belts), not that it would invite 100% compliance, but even if a few drivers had these installed, it would lessen the incidence of side-impact crashes.

Some years ago my wife was given a brand new Swift by her company when she joined it. This was round about the time the Swift was just launched in India. (We had not even met, much less married at that time)
This was the base model LXi.
It did not even have that left side mirror as standard.
Typical of the rogues at Maruti the dealer gave her lots of rubbishy accessories and mats and everything but did not even offer this most basic driving aid!
When I met her, some 6 months into her ownership of this car, one of the first things I did was to go to the Maruti dealer and order a left side mirror. It cost Rs 3500/- at that time since the mirrors were still being imported I think. It is only in 2008 or so that I saw the mirror prices come down to Rs 1000 or those more reasonable levels.

[joybhowmik]

Friends, There is yet another safety mechanism, sadly not used by many drivers, perhaps due to lack of awareness. I am not sure if this exists for the buses and trucks, but have seen it available in most mainstream cars in India. This is the window defogger - particularly important to use this to good effect when you are driving in the monsoons, with a closed cabin due to rain outside.

You must have noticed, that when it pours outside, and you roll-up the windows, the humidity and the moisture exhaled by the passengers, quickly fogs up the inside of the car.

Many drivers (including professional drivers), at this point, slow-down the car, crouch down to take a small hand-mop and wipe the windscreen area immediately in front of them. They repeat this process at frequent intervals. The remainder of the front windscreen and all of the rear windscreen remains fogged up. Having done this they continue the journey.

In my view, the right thing to do is to first stop the car safely at the side of the road. If it is not pouring too heavily, and road conditions indicate one can proceed safely, the driver should first wipe both the windscreens. Then he should have all the windows rolled down about an inch or two to allow cross-circulation of air from outside. Finally, he should start his defogger blower and continue the journey. For the rear windscreen, some cars nowadays come with the heated element which can be switched on during the rain to prevent fogging.

Sadly many drivers do not do this, so never get the visual inputs needed to drive in the rain, leading up to poor judgement and accidents.

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

I wish that ORVM's be made mandatory in every car in India (just like they did with seat-belts), not that it would invite 100% compliance, but even if a few drivers had these installed, it would lessen the incidence of side-impact crashes.

Yes, I agree that they should be made mandatory, but no, I don't think it will make a difference to whether people use them.

How many cars have we all seen being driven with the left mirror folded in? How many cars have we seen being driven with BOTH the mirrors folded in?

My driving style involves keeping both the ORVMs open at all times and nervously glancing at each of the three RVMs from time to time, so I am unable to fathom how ANYBODY can drive without the mirrors. They're just too important!

From now on I'm going to click a picture of such cars and post them in the "How do you spot idiots..." thread.

[joy_o_hammer]

Since we are talking about safety, thought i should share a personal experience.

Last year i was looking forward to buy a sedan. After all the market research and analysis i found that Honda City was one of the cars that came to about 7.5 - 8.5 lacs and was providing airbags, abs & EBD even in the basic Corporate Edition. Since i was planning to keep the car for 5 - 7 years; Honda is a car that you can safely say will measure up to that expectation. That along with the safety features sealed the deal for me and despite 45 days long waiting period I went ahead and bought the same.

3 months later on a drive back from Ajmer we had a major accident, my wife and me. I was driving on NH8 Highway at 70 - 90 Kms. and while overtaking a tractor came in from the wrong side and we had a collision. Since i knew that a direct front impact or an impact on the left hand side would cause a worse off injury to my wife, in a split second decision I swerved the car and put the right side of the car front first causing the impact on front but a bit more on the right side of the car. Unfortunately, it happened so quickly that I was not able to use the breaks so the ABS did not kick in.

After effects observed.

a) Since we were wearing seat belts, we did not fly off… and thank god for that. However since the impact was on my side I suffered from seat belt burn marks on my right shoulder.

b) Air bags got depleted in a jiffy. I had an impact on my chest, for my wife the impact was on her stomach. While I had blood clots on my chest and the area from the impact, she had blood clots and swelling on her stomach.

c) The Steering wheel collapsed, by the god damn thing collapsed on my right thigh. Causing more blood clots & injury. Also dude to this impact my foot got pressed at the accelerator and I happened to fracture my foot.

d) An additional thing that helped. There was a very fine film on my front glass, to avoid glare etc. Thanks to that film the glass did not collapse on us, though it had completely caved in.

e) The Fuel lines stopped immediately I guess because though the engine broke, I did not see fuel spurting around.

f) Last but not the least the Highway patrol on the NH8 was there in less than 5 minutes. Helped me and my wife up and took us to the hospital immediately.

I ended up with blood clots, bruises, belt burns and a fractured right foot. My wife though she had no external injuries, the Airbag opening on her stomach kept her in the hospital for more than 3 days as her stomach was not able to hold anything, not even water. The car was a total loss.

Since I was not able to move from the bed for a couple of months, my car was parked the Ring Road Honda sector 18 and those guys made a killing selling the safety feature giving my cases example. I did not realize how bad the accident was until i went back to the service station to look at the car. When i walked away from the car after accident, i was still a bit dazed but when i saw my car again, then i realized what i had managed to escape from. In fact my friends were surprised that we made out with such little injuries.

To all my friends, family who buy cars i always tell them safety features are a must, even if they cost an extra premium. You never know when that might save your life. I have never had more than a minor scratches and marks on my car, and yet here i was in the worst situation possible.

I lost my 3 month old City, but i gained my confidence in it. Now, time for me to buy another car, and I am picking up another City .

[Vikki@Hyderabad]

I've been planning for a new car for some time now. I've been advised by most of my friends/well-wishers that airbags are not only unnecessary as they don't save many lives, but also are cost-prohibitive (sometimes costing more than a lac). However, wifey and I are of the opinion that if we buy a new car it's going to be one with as many safety features as possible. The plan, though, is being delayed due to budget constraints as these safety features come with a high price tag. But at the end of the day, I'd rather invest on safety than on accidental insurance.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Vikki@Hyderabad

I've been planning for a new car for some time now. I've been advised by most of my friends/well-wishers that airbags are not only unnecessary as they don't save many lives, but also are cost-prohibitive (sometimes costing more than a lac). However, wifey and I are of the opinion that if we buy a new car it's going to be one with as many safety features as possible. The plan, though, is being delayed due to budget constraints as these safety features come with a high price tag. But at the end of the day, I'd rather invest on safety than on accidental insurance.

Clearly you have your priorities right and place value on yours and your family's life and limb.
These 'well wishers' of yours appear to be rather short-sighted people, who cannot get past that typical 'kitni deti hai' mentality. Please do not listen to them and get swayed.
At the very least you should buy a car which has ABS because this really helps in our unpredictable conditions. Airbags would be great to have too, at least for the front two occupants.

[Pancham]

I really go mad from inside when I have co-passengers saying "We dont need seat belts or Airbags inside the city". I just go mad. In case of Hyundai i20 there is this alarm which goes 'tang tang' if you dont wear the seat belt. I think this should be present in all cars. It irritates the hell out of the passengers. I mean why shouldnt it be present ?

There is another thing Indians need to be educated about. It is the SRS Airbags. Correct me if I am wrong these airbags are not supposed to deploy if you are not wearing a seat belt. People have this misconception that since their cars have airbags it will save them in any situation and hence why wear an irritating belt across their body and crease their crisp shirt.

Seat belts save life. Be it highway or city roads. (Personal Experience)

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Correct me if I am wrong these airbags are not supposed to deploy if you are not wearing a seat belt.

The airbag system is designed to work in tandem with the seatbelts. The airbags can be dangerous to the passengers if seatbelts are not worn.
Imagine you are in an accident and you're not wearing a seatbelt, and the car goes from 60 kmph to zero in half a second. At this point your face and chest are zooming towards the steering wheel/ dashboard at an incredible speed. At the same, the airbags have deployed and are zooming towards your face and ribs at an even more incredible speed. Your face and chest would hit the airbags with such force that you can easily break your nose and ribs. Without them you could have died, but with them you'll still be injured.

However if you're wearing seatbelts, the pretensioners and the very presence of the belts will reduce your speed down as you fall forward into the airbags, which will greatly reduce the risk of an injury.

What most people don't realize is that the airbags are deployed using explosives, and they are not soft like pillows.

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by EagleEye

What most people don't realize is that the airbags are deployed using explosives, and they are not soft like pillows.

Exactly this!! It was really difficult to make one of my friends understand this and he was shocked to know that people suffer from severe burns after the deployment of airbags.

[Reinhard]

Very very glad to know you both survived & there is no lasting damage. Thats what matters above all. Good to see the safety mechanisms working. Wish you safe & happy miles with the next City.

Originally Posted by joy_o_hammer

d) An additional thing that helped. There was a very fine film on my front glass, to avoid glare etc. Thanks to that film the glass did not collapse on us, though it had completely caved in.

BTW, This is not due to the windshield anti-glare film. The glass didn't collapse because they are laminated. It is a mandatory safety feature to avoid glass shrapnel from causing grave injuries to car occupants. And they have saved innumerable lives so far. Happy to see the windshield served it's safety duty with you.
Good luck.

[arvind71181]

I have seen that even when people buy cars with Airbags, they still refuse to wear seat belts with the understanding that airbags will save them.

Airbags are reactive. Seat belts are the cheapest, most reliable proactive safety measure one can take while driving.

People buy top of the line variants and boast of airbags and ABS and EBD and what not but do not wear seat belts!! i20 has a wonderful feature where the seat belt buzzer irritates to the core if you do not buckle up. But our Jugaad there is to buckle in the seat belt and then sit on top of it and then be proud of it as well

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by joy_o_hammer

The Steering wheel collapsed, by the god damn thing collapsed on my right thigh. Causing more blood clots & injury. Also dude to this impact my foot got pressed at the accelerator and I happened to fracture my foot.

I had read that Mahindra XUV got lesser points in Australian safety ratings since the break pedal tends to move back on impact causing injury to drivers leg. I guess a similar thing happened to you also through the accelerator.
XUV ANCAP rating - Zig wheels

Originally Posted by joy_o_hammer

An additional thing that helped. There was a very fine film on my front glass, to avoid glare etc. Thanks to that film the glass did not collapse on us, though it had completely caved in.

Is Honda windshield glass laminated or you had put any anti-glare film later ? Laminated glass prevents injuries by not flying off in pieces on impact, however on flip side if front passenger or driver is not wearing seat belts they get to thrown on to the glass and injury to their head will be much severe in case of laminated glass than non - laminated ones.

Originally Posted by joy_o_hammer

my car was parked the Ring Road Honda sector 18 and those guys made a killing selling the safety feature giving my cases example.

Though they are doing it for their own personal gains, lets hope atleast few of the customers who saw your car took up safety features as a priority in their car purchases.

Originally Posted by Vikki@Hyderabad

I've been advised by most of my friends/well-wishers that airbags are not only unnecessary as they don't save many lives, but also are cost-prohibitive (sometimes costing more than a lac).

It is a sad reality that most of the people who own and drive car does not know leave alone care about safety features. Average car buying public is more concerned about car entertainment systems, alloy wheels and seat covers more than basic safety features. The comment which I heard most against air bags are that it costs above 50K to replace it.
And against ABS it is the usual, I don't drive above 80 / 100 KMPH so not required.