[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by 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

The Yeti has a clear seat belt warning light which kicks in as soon as someone sits down and then a warning bell which kicks in when the car is moving at around 20kmph and if one is not wearing the seat belt. This works only for the front two passengers and not the rear ones. I wish they would extend it to the rear seat passengers as well.
The other day I had placed a fairly heavy shopping bag on the front seat and immediately the seatbelt warning light came on.
Noticing that, I transferred the bag to the rear seat.

[Reinhard]

Another point worth pondering is wheel caps. Most wheel caps (including those on my car) are snap-on type these days. Very rarely do we see bolted wheel-caps because of the hassle involved in fitting / removing them.

However, I've seen the snap-on wheel caps on cars fail in sudden bumps at high speed. Or their inner rim simply gives-away in some cases at speed. And they spin away like a vertical "Sudarshan chakra" into other lanes or even oncoming traffic causing panic reactions from other drivers. It is a light weight and seemingly non lethal safety hazard.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The Yeti has a clear seat belt warning light which kicks in as soon as someone sits down and then a warning bell which kicks in when the car is moving at around 20kmph and if one is not wearing the seat belt. This works only for the front two passengers and not the rear ones. I wish they would extend it to the rear seat passengers as well.
The other day I had placed a fairly heavy shopping bag on the front seat and immediately the seatbelt warning light came on.
Noticing that, I transferred the bag to the rear seat.

The exact same feature was present in the pre iGen i20s as well. I guess Hyundai would have figured that the passenger seat belt indication buzzer was useless and people would be more happy about the reduced cost due to this feature not being present in the igen i20 and hence this feature is now only restricted to the driver seat.

[agambhandari]

I am interested about the seat belt warning system on the EcoSport(I am waiting for one, you see).

Is there an audio alarm, or is it just a Warning light on the Instrument cluster?

[Satshan]

Originally Posted by 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

Completely agree with Arvind on this. Seat-belts are life-savers incase of worst accidents. Airbags do help for those who buy the top-end variants. Good that car companies are making ABS units as standard across many most of its variants nowadays.

To add to this, Volvo cars offer Pedestrian airbag as well. In this feature, if the car hits someone while traveling between 20 kmph and 50 kmph, an airbag slips out from where the car hood meets the windshield.

Sources: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_1...-to-v40-model/
Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Aw4eZoijk

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by saket77

..........
We look for staggering torque figures, 0-100 sprint timings, unbelievable numbers denoting powers of adult horses, but seldom have we known the braking efficiency of a car like 100-0 or 60-0; that’s a harsh fact. Similarly, how often do we frankly look for the construction of the car, its robustness, crash worthiness and other safety features? Moreover, we are given what we want from the manufacturers: compromised safety as compared to standards elsewhere in the world even on same cars. Hardly are we let known of the crashworthiness of cars sold in India.


1. Body Construction Type: Structural
2. General Build in terms of robustness
3. Seat belts construction mechanism
4. Crumple Zones
5. EURO NCAP/ ARAI*/ Any other recognized crash facility testing report
6. Braking System: general efficiency, ABS, EBD
7. Airbags/ SRS
8. Tyres


........

An excellent thread. Here is my little knowledge of minor statistical details and personal experiences to back up most of the facts that we all know to be true.
I have heard from very trusted sources that the swift that was launched in India was at least 40 Kgs lighter than the ones that were on use in Europe. Reason - Roll over metal thickness reduced in the interests of cost.Ironically, when the ritz was launched, it was heavier than the swift. In India only the top end versions of the swift came with 185/70 R14 tyres. The ordinary ones came with 165/80 R!4 whereas all variants in europe were run on 185/70 R14. Greater the rubber on the road, greater the safety.
I walked away from a major head on collision while driving my bolero into a bus at 90Km/hr on a highway literally unhurt, but I swore to myself that I will never buy myself another ride unless it has ABS and impeccable braking manners under panic braking scenario.With that in mind, I try the following test on each of the test drives. Climb up to a speed of say 80km/hr and just slam on the brakes with your full strength and dont hold the steering wheel at all.you will be surprised at the results. The boleros,xylos and scorpios usually do a turn of say 90 degrees to the left. Same was the case with i1o and santro. The only one which passed that test was the chevy beat, which I booked promptly. Now I have a 110 RXL duster(with ABS of course) and for it performs really well under panic braking. I think Saket77 hit the nail right on the head when he mentioned about the braking efficiency of a car like 100-0 or 60-0. People need to be educated more when choosing their car.
And here is the icing on the cake. After I tried my panic braking routine on the i10, the Sales Advisor became very angry and said that I should push my limits only after I bought the vehicle and that in his 10 years of service nobody has tried to do what I did in the test drive and such behaviour is unacceptable. Needless to say, I gave him more than just a piece of my mind and that too in front of other prospective buyers, just to make him realise that vehicle occupants' safety is important.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Climb up to a speed of say 80km/hr and just slam on the brakes with your full strength and dont hold the steering wheel at all.you will be surprised at the results.

Neil, though I understand & appreciate your concern for the safety and admire the end result that you want to achieve with this method, but its quite risky to let loose the steering while braking at such high speeds. Road undulations, bad wheel alignment, uneven tyre wear/ air pressure or even the general road behavior of cars esp. tall boys, can result in a catastrophe. IMO, these tests should only be done in a controlled environment like on test tracks and with proper protective gear on. Our general roads are too unsafe for this experiment. Stay safe!

Regards,
Saket

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

I think Saket77 hit the nail right on the head when he mentioned about the braking efficiency of a car like 100-0 or 60-0. People need to be educated more when choosing their car.

The stopping distance from 100 for hatches are mentioned in another thread, what is interest is i20 Diesel even though with 4 discs has the worst stopping distance after Indica. i20 petrol though has the second best stopping distance. Hatches stopping distance

And for sedans are mentioned here : Sedans stopping distance

The list is old hence not all cars which are available in market will be in the list.

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by saket77

Neil, though I understand & appreciate your concern for the safety and admire the end result that you want to achieve with this method, but its quite risky to let loose the steering while braking at such high speeds. Road undulations, bad wheel alignment, uneven tyre wear/ air pressure or even the general road behavior of cars esp. tall boys, can result in a catastrophe. IMO, these tests should only be done in a controlled environment like on test tracks and with proper protective gear on. Our general roads are too unsafe for this experiment. Stay safe!

Regards,
Saket

Truth be told, in hindsight I should not be the one doing these tests. It is the manufacturer who has to do these tests and come back to me (the customer) with the results.I learnt the hard way that these tests are not conducted/fabricated and just a formality at the risk of losing my life.Anyways thanks for the advice. You are right. Public roads are not the place for these exercises.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

The stopping distance from 100 for hatches are mentioned in another thread, what is interest is i20 Diesel even though with 4 discs has the worst stopping distance after Indica.

Man, first of all, the i20's report card is very scary. If with 4 discs it finishes second last, that is a matter of concern for Hyundai. Probably the effects of being pushed by that massively hefty diesel engine.

And Tatas, what do I say...both Indica & Indigo are the worst in their respective segments. Hoping things have changed by now, not sure.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by saket77

Man, first of all, the i20's report card is very scary. If with 4 discs it finishes second last, that is a matter of concern for Hyundai.

Yes, agree. It is like the discs are a necessity for i20's. However NCAP ratings for i20 is good, in nutshell not just the crash rating but other parameters ( handling, stopping distance etc) also that has to be considered when we think of a 'safe' car.

[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

The exact same feature was present in the pre iGen i20s as well. I guess Hyundai would have figured that the passenger seat belt indication buzzer was useless and people would be more happy about the reduced cost due to this feature not being present in the igen i20 and hence this feature is now only restricted to the driver seat.

The PPS (Passenger Presence System) is not present in my Laura either.
I wish it had been there, I feel very uncomfortable driving a car if the passenger is not belted in, and often they refuse to wear the seatbelt. If the buzzer was present, they would have worn the belt to shut it up rather than to shut me up from pestering them.

Originally Posted by Satshan

To add to this, Volvo cars offer Pedestrian airbag as well. In this feature, if the car hits someone while traveling between 20 kmph and 50 kmph, an airbag slips out from where the car hood meets the windshield.

Cool, thanks, I didn't know about this feature.

[Oranger]

Originally Posted by gk01

Not too sure, it depends on the scope of the accident insurance coverage. If it is limited to one specific car, then Airbags in it makes sense in a rebate but I always thought the scope is more generic.


Exactly. Those who don't put safety at the top of the priorities should not even be allowed to drive on our roads. They should be restricted to simulations within 4 walls.

Alas, all you need to do to get a drivers license is, well, get the vehicle moving. But that is another story, rather, another thread.

Insurance policies do have compulsory Personal accident cover for driver as well as passengers. It is fixed at Rs 2 Lac in case of death per person & is mandatory. All comprehensive insurance policies include this cover by default.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Yes, agree. It is like the discs are a necessity for i20's. However NCAP ratings for i20 is good, in nutshell not just the crash rating but other parameters ( handling, stopping distance etc) also that has to be considered when we think of a 'safe' car.

True indeed. Also, the braking distance is immensely influenced by the vehicle's own weight/mass. And the results table more or less sticks in proportion with weights barring some exceptions like the Nano, Punto and Palio.

The i20 diesel & Vista are both heavier cars compared to others in the segment IIRC.
I must say the braking performance for heavy tanks like Palio & Punto is wonderful.

Just a rating, single parameter result (like braking distance) can never give a full report of a car's safety manners. They individually just give a view from one perspective. Individual experiences will always very. And thats why, a thorough test drive before finalizing any car is of importance to make sure it feels compliant and safe with an individual's driving style.

[hocuspocus]

WoW !!

What an informative and necessary thread.

Safety is a mixture of many things which include:

- physical characteristics(car)
- driving habits(subjective),
- road/weather/lighting conditions

In my view, here are few safety features which I can count on my tips which should be included in a car:

1. Disc Brakes/ABS with EBD/Airbags
2. Auto Door Lock / Unlock incase of accident
3. Auto Dim rear view mirror
4. Height adjustable Seatbelt with Pre-tensioners
5. Collapsible Steering and crumple zones
6. Wide set of tyres
7. Defogger for front/rear windscreens

Will add more as and when it comes to my mind.

Cheers