[misquitas]

Originally Posted by anandtheleo

Well, we do have the removable neck restraints in the rear seats. I think we can use them in emergencies.

No, cars like the old i10 (my car) don't have removable head restraints either in the front or rear seat. The same was the story in my old Alto 800.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Apart from the below suggestion, I feel the seat-belt buckle is good enough to help in certain emergency situation. May be you can fling it towards the windows and it will give way.

I doubt that will work. You would need a sufficient swing and force to crack open a window.

That said, I was wondering if keeping the lever (for the jack) inside the cabin would solve this purpose. The 90 degree angular design and the stubby bar could be perfect to knock down any of the five windows to ensure a quick exit.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by misquitas

I doubt that will work. You would need a sufficient swing and force to crack open a window.

So when are you trying the seat belt thing?!

Originally Posted by misquitas

That said, I was wondering if keeping the lever (for the jack) inside the cabin would solve this purpose. The 90 degree angular design and the stubby bar could be perfect to knock down any of the five windows to ensure a quick exit.

It is anyway inside the cabin right! Only thing is you'll have to fold the rear seats to access the spare tyre area.

Worst case you have the jack itself apart from the two levers.

Anurag.

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

So when are you trying the seat belt thing?!

Could I...may I try out the experiment on your beloved car? If it works well, I can assure you that I will implement the idea on my car as and when the needs arises.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

It is anyway inside the cabin right! Only thing is you'll have to fold the rear seats to access the spare tyre area. Worst case you have the jack itself apart from the two levers.
Anurag.

In a hatch, you may have access to the jack lever, provided you do not have a parcel tray blocking access to the spare tyre and jack lever. In a sedan or compact sedan, the situation is more difficult, if not impossible.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by misquitas

Could I...may I try out the experiment on your beloved car? If it works well, I can assure you that I will implement the idea on my car as and when the needs arises.

I have told you that with experience bro. I have tried the seat belt trick on my cars front left window. It works!

Originally Posted by misquitas

In a hatch, you may have access to the jack lever, provided you do not have a parcel tray blocking access to the spare tyre and jack lever. In a sedan or compact sedan, the situation is more difficult, if not impossible.

My Ritz has a parcel tray but I doesn't come in a way to fold the rear seats down to access the boot. Sedan or pseudo-sedan is ruled out.

Anurag.

[getsurya]

If you can lay your hands upon a very compact tool called "Resqme", this is very handy for breaking car glass in emergencies. Costs about~$10 and is very useful for cutting seat belts and breaking the car glass.

Pictures reposted from my US car thread.

[MorePower]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

* Public knowledge in India is abysmally low about safety in transportation systems. This includes knowledge of what to do from inside a vehicle as well as from outside

* In developed countries, Emergency workers - Fire Services and Ambulance - are trained and given specific equipment for emergencies. They also have a system in which the closest station has to ensure arrival at the spot of an emergency within 3 minutes - and the people who don't are penalized.
In India, we rely more on *hope* than systematic handling.

* It is not a matter of knowing technology - it is about knowing what to do or not to do, as the case may be. How many people do you think know what to do when an accident happens? How many know how to deal with the emergency exit in trains and buses?

Bang on! In aircrafts, how often do passengers pay attention to safety demos by the flight crew? How often do we check where the nearest exits are?

Not sure how many of the crews operating mass transportations in India have even the basic knowledge of what to do in case of an accident.

Eventually it all boils down to 1 thing, LUCK.

You just HOPE nothing goes wrong. If something does go wrong, you just hope to find a soul kind enough to help you, in case you are not in a position to help yourself.

Originally Posted by rahul4321

For the past some months now, I have been reading news and reports of where the electronics fail and cause death of individuals while an escape could have been easily made possible.
During the Surat/Mumbai floods, we read reports of people who kept their engine on when their tailpipe was under water which resulted in asyphyxation due to the carbon monoxide seeping into the cabin. In some cases, the doors and windows did not open because the water had shorted the central locking mechanism and the power window mechanism

For this very reason I didn't complain much about lack of power windows at the rear when I bought my Figo. Sometimes, missing a few 'features' is not that bad.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by MorePower

Bang on! In aircrafts, how often do passengers pay attention to safety demos by the flight crew? How often do we check where the nearest exits are? Not sure how many of the crews operating mass transportations in India have even the basic knowledge of what to do in case of an accident. Eventually it all boils down to 1 thing, LUCK. You just HOPE nothing goes wrong. If something does go wrong, you just hope to find a soul kind enough to help you, in case you are not in a position to help yourself. For this very reason I didn't complain much about lack of power windows at the rear when I bought my Figo. Sometimes, missing a few 'features' is not that bad.

On a lighter vein, any form of mass transportation or individual transportation in India or other similar developing, third-world, lawless, un-organized, chaotic country (in terms of traffic), functions pretty much 'on a wing and a prayer' .

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

... or other similar developing, third-world, lawless, un-organized, chaotic country (in terms of traffic), ...

LOL Funnily, it is only India that 'un-organized' (disorganized?) and chaotic traffic exists. Traffic is dense in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc. yet the traffic is not 'lawless'. There are occasional expressions of free-will in traffic, but one can't compare those with India - especially what one sees in Bangalore, Hyderabad and other nouveau metros.

These are from Kathmandu last month. The traffic wanting to turn right in both the pics is waiting patiently in their designated lane - without blocking traffic of other lanes:

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

LOL Funnily, it is only India that 'un-organized' (disorganized?) and chaotic traffic exists. Traffic is dense in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc. yet the traffic is not 'lawless'. There are occasional expressions of free-will in traffic, but one can't compare those with India - especially what one sees in Bangalore, Hyderabad and other nouveau metros. These are from Kathmandu last month. The traffic wanting to turn right in both the pics is waiting patiently in their designated lane - without blocking traffic of other lanes:

Same with Mauritius. Wonderful lane discipline there too!

[rajwheelz]

A very unfortunate incident. My thoughts & prayers with the departed souls.

My two cents on this topic.

* As far as I know, in bangalore & surrounding areas whenever a Volvo was involved in an accident, Volvo technicians usually attend to the vehicle at the earliest and start their investigations & more often than not, they submit the findings too pretty fast. Havent seen the same when an leyland or a Tata meets with an accident

* Safety in India ( not sure about other countries ) does not seem to be taken seriously by a majority of the people. I see fire drills happening in IT companies and when that happens, I see employees happily taking this time out for a tea or a smoke. I frequently air-travel on the domestic circuit & the hostess's safety instructions are almost always ignored. The person sitting next to the emergency window are given specific instructions on how to open it & the person just nods his head without even bothering to pay attention to it. It's just the "Chaltha hai" attitude which i feel is killing many people.

* We are very innovative when adopting non-safety measures.
1. Modified LPG kits using cooking LPG cylinders
2. 2nd hand tyres just to save that extra 1k
3. Footboard travel. ( I cant count the number of deaths this is causing )

The bottom line is, it's good to have safety measures in vehicles. But without the correct awareness and attitude towards safety you are risking your life & if you happen to be someone like a bus driver, then you are risking other lives too.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by getsurya

If you can lay your hands upon a very compact tool called "Resqme", this is very handy for breaking car glass in emergencies. Costs about~$10 and is very useful for cutting seat belts and breaking the car glass.

I have seen ads of similar device from Victorinox (of Swiss Army Knife fame) and also seen it on eBay.

[getsurya]

I have seen ads of similar device from Victorinox (of Swiss Army Knife fame) and also seen it on eBay.

Hi sgiitk,

I only wish that such simple tools are available as easy as car air freshners etc in our car accessory shops. To find a decent fire extinguisher for a car, was also a challenge earlier. Now you get these in most of the shops

Car dealers, I feel should push these accessories more than the chrome appliques at the point of car delivery itself!

[virgopal]

Originally Posted by alpha1

The VOLVO bus in question did not have any hammer to break glass?

Anyway I hate the electronic locks. You don't have any control over them when the electricals fail. I never understood why we don't have a "catch release" mechanism from inside which can override all the so called superior electronic intelligence.

It is not that difficult.

As per news report,the Hammer to break glass was missing.Serious safety lapse.
The crew might have taken it out for other uses.
VOLVO has reiterated that a Hammer is a standard accessory.

[dr_vivekpatil]

Originally Posted by getsurya

Hi sgiitk,

I only wish that such simple tools are available as easy as car air freshners etc in our car accessory shops. To find a decent fire extinguisher for a car, was also a challenge earlier. Now you get these in most of the shops

Car dealers, I feel should push these accessories more than the chrome appliques at the point of car delivery itself!

Have ordered this device from an online retailer for Rs. 218/-. Serves as a emergency window hammer, seat belt cutter, flashing warning light and torchlight, with a magnetic base to attach to the vehicle. Will post details on receipt.

[maheshmenon]

That's why I keep one of these in my glove box. its a windshield / side window hammer and is also equipped with a seat belt cutter. the shape of the cutter is such that it is impossible to cut our fingers / a child to access the blade.