[Prathiiik]

The idea for this thread arose due to BHPian AMVJ's Baleno thread.

When we buy a car, the most important aspect we look at is safety. Safety for all the passengers travelling in the car. We look at a host of safety features like Airbags (Dual, Curtain), ESP, ABS, EBD and a lot more.

However, sometimes, due to budget constraints or other factors, we tend to buy the lower, less equipped variants of the vehicle and we don't really feel safe while driving or being driven in the car.

Also, a lot of us judge the crash safety of cars by inspecting the sheet metal of the car. Doing this makes you assume that your car isn't well built, or rather, term it as a 'TIN - CAN'. Even if your car is equipped with a lot of safety features, the thickness of the sheet metal turns out to be the ultimate deciding factor for many.

So BHPians,
Does your car make you feel safe when you're driving or being driven in? Or rather,
Do you feel safe behind the wheel of your car?

[GTO]

Nice thread, thanks for sharing. Voted yes for both my cars. Do I feel safe in the 530d? Absolutely. I have no doubt that it's among the safest cars ever built.

Surprisingly, I feel safe in the Jeep too. Now, it was designed at a time when crumple zones weren't even invented, forget ABS & Airbags. Still, the Jeep feels indestructible due to all that heavy metal and makes me feel safe. I know I'm wrong as it might be safe only in crashes <35 - 40 kmph. Anything over and there is a very real chance of serious injury (e.g. the dashboard is less than an inch away from my knee while driving). But it sure feels 'tough' . Anyone who drives an HM Ambassador, Mahindra Bolero or Tata Sumo will know what I'm talking about.

No comments on the Nissan Sunny as I rarely use it.

[VeluM]

IMHO this is going to be very subjective because it's not just the car but one's driving habits, the roads, traffic, speeds, and attitudes of other road users too that all play a part.

From real first hand experience (unfortunately) I know that my car will take care of me and surprisingly good care of herself too. So for now I have voted yes. I might start evaluating safety differently in the future, so that might change.

[a4anurag]

A YES!!

Coming from the Swift, I find my current steed SAFE to be in, the Creta SX(O) I specifically had to convince dad for SX(O) instead of the original choice of SX+. Reason was extra safety kit that I get for the premium I pay.

Quoting from Official Review:

It has an ultra-high tensile steel body structure with protection in all directions from 'ring-shaped frames'. The pillars (including the center pillar), side frames and bottom are positioned in a ring-like layout, all connected.

Hyundai says this ring-structure brings a significant increase in body stiffness. In addition to the ribbed roof, there are 5 cross members that provide additional reinforcement and protection.

In the Chinese NCAP tests, the ix25 scored the full 5 stars for safety. ABS is standard across the range in India. The impressive safety pack of the top variant includes 6 airbags, traction control, ESP and hill-start assist.

Plus this video of the crash test:

Hyundai Creta/ix25 Crash Test

I know the 5-Star rating that the Creta garnered in the crash test may or may not imply for the Creta that we Indians get but I don't think there will be any great change that would compromise safety.

At the end, it is a YES again. I feel safe in this car thanks to the safety kit, good build quality of the car.

[roby_dk]

Voted yes but it is not due to my car having all safety gadgets but the factor that my average speed is less than 22kmph. I feel my Endeavour is super safe with superb brakes,electronics like ABS,EBD,TC etc. but these things can help till certain speed limits beyond which no car in this world is safe. This topic can be debatable but the only reason I prefer SUV over Sedan is that they are much safer as we can't do insane speeds in them whereas the sedan can put some serious numbers on speedometer.

[Thebat]

Absolutely yes, my Polo feels like a vault on road. This can be down to the build quality, the planted low stance or just the road grip of the car.

Safety is subjective and I feel its highly subjective, for eg a guy who has moved from say a Maruti 800 to a Baleno might feel safe, but a different Baleno owner after tasting something better or in this case safer cars might feel that his car is a tin can.

[The Brutailer]

I feel the replies on this thread will be heavily biased because everyone has a soft corner for their car.

Also, most of us don’t have a scientific basis to prove that our cars are safe. What we have is just basic assumption. And we all know these ethicless manufacturers degrade their vehicles for the Indian market. Who’s to blame? Mostly the government for not introducing a stringent testing procedure for crash test.

So if you ask me if I feel safe in my cars, then I won’t be able to give you a precise answer. Because I don’t know!!

[SmartCat]

This is my safety suite -



- All doors locked
- All windows rolled up
- Window/Child lock button activated.

I never feel unsafe in any car because most of the time, safety is in our control. Also, I have grown up riding a bicycle to school, Hero Puch to college and Suzuki Samurai/Yamaha RxG to work. Driving around in Dad's Ambassador/ M800/ Zen to many places helps too.

But certain situations on the road makes feel unsafe -

1) Driving close to a flyover pillar or Metro pillar when it is still under construction
2) Driving under a large tree branch when it is rainy & windy
3) When a fast bus makes a sweeping turn in the ghats, and goes back to his lane whizzing past my car.

[deepfreak15]

Though no where as safe as a Volvo , four rings on the hood does help. I have first hand experienced on numerous occasions in the Polo TSI the benefits of having ESP/TC, so by extension of that and some more additional features in my current car I feel extremely safe. My co passenger also shares the same sentiment.

[hrman]

I have a Skoda Rapid with ABS and driver airbags. I voted "dont feel safe". Its not because of the car. I am fully confident of my own driving abilities and also satisfied with the build quality and prefer it over the tinny cars from the market leader.

But the reason why I feel unsafe is because of the other users on the road. I fear that some stupid biker will come from the wrong side, some nutcase auto driver or cabbie will cut my lane, brake suddenly, turn suddenly. Some metro work somewhere wil cause a blind spot and cause some bumper to dash against the car in front. These are all the trends I have seen in Bangalore traffic for some time. So Yes, I feel safe in my car if it was in standtill. But that is not the intention of this poll, so "No, I dont feel safe in my car"

[nmenon]

I voted for don't feel safe since my current drive is a Nano and it just doesn't feel very safe or even well put together. I felt safer in my old Alto.

Hopefully my new car will feel as safe as it is supposed to be a Ford Freestyle Titanium Plus

[ece2k2]

Yes, I sure feel safe with my current set of cars - x3, Tucson and Linea Tjet. I no longer use my Linea for long trips as it has just the basic safety kit and it’s engine feels kind of strained at high speeds.

I never felt safe with the swift I had earlier and I made it a point to purchase only well built full safety specced cars after getting rid of swift that didn’t even have a single airbag or ABS.

[aaggoswami]

Voted for No.

Its for my daily drive, 2015 Maruti Swift VXi. Love Swift for what it offers, but for this thread, I will be frank in my view. Even though with airbags it was rated at 3/5 in crash test ratings, there was deformation of cabin compartment, not congruent with what Swift in Euro NCAP scored. For years I was fooled (like many others) that Indian cars are given same basic structure as EU/developed markets. Its breach of trust on something as fundamental as Safety.

Let me elucidate : My Swift is without ABS and airbags. So, a relatively weak structure, zero safety features doesn't make for a confidence inspiring drive. And Life without ABS has been horrendous, steep learning curve. There is a certain point beyond which even slight more pressure on brake pedal results into locked wheels. So much thought process is consumed while braking, it becomes a pain on highways especially the two and three wheeler infested Gujarat highways. All this is with 185/70 Bridgestone B290 tyres which found their place in my car when odo was at 1000 kms. Lack of ABS isn't a deal breaking issue in city but it obviously is on highways.

However, the vote is Yes for my highway star: 2012 Innova Vx Diesel. Its so relaxed on open roads, like it will do 100 kmph all day and night long for months together. Noisy engine apart, if its driven keeping in mind what essentially it is underneath - a sturdy pickup platform - things are very well under control. Expressway cruising is effortless till one hits triple digit speeds, braking is good (pedal feel can do with serious improvement though), body control is good too, list runs long and this car needs no introduction. Two recent trips I had planned in Swift got a prudent shift to Innova. Swift is more fun anywhere as far as roads are good and less tiring once inside urban jungle, but Innova takes the highway crown it rightly deserves.

[fuelinmyveins]

I voted that, “yes I do feel safe in my car”.
After coming to North America I felt that there were two aspects to the feeling of safety:
1. Knowledge about the presence of safety features such as crash mitigation systems, crash avoidance systems and crash test ratings.
2. Seat of the pants feeling such as power, stability, handling and build quality.

Both of these are equally important and go a long way to build confidence.

For example, I was looking for a safe and powerful midsize sedan with all wheel drive. There where many options and most of them like Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Mazda 6 etc had top of the line safety features with excellent crash test ratings. So it finally boiled down to seat of the pants experience and this is where Ford Fusion and Mazda 6 came on the top. I ended up buying Ford Fusion with all wheel drive not only because it was the top safety pick by IIHS but also because it felt safe as well.

Another India specific example that I can find would be of previous generation of Hyundai Verna (with 6 airbags) versus Volkswagen Vento. Though Verna had more safety features than Vento our family decided to go for Vento because it simply felt much safer.

[torquecurve]

Well I did vote for I feel safe - reasons listed below for my three steeds.
- Vista - when we bought this home it didn’t have any safety kit but felt a lot safer than the other options. Being a 65bhp petrol it doesn’t do silly speeds easily. Build quality is top notch. Have had a couple of accidents and the car has taken them really well. After 98000 kms on the odo, this is now primarily a city car / beater for us.

- Nano - from a city driving perspective it is decently safe. Of course no Airbags or any active safety features to talk about but has an egg shape structure with intelligently designed front crash members and I do feel safe at city speeds. This is almost never driven on highways ( the longest distance outside city limits it has seen is 30 kms)

- Superb - It is built like a tank. 6 airbags, a host of active and passive safety features. Primarily going to be our highway car but currently also does city duties.