[rbg]

While I don't have the stats to support, I sincerely do believe the chances of T-boning is lesser compared to a rear-ending. It's a chance that we all have to take I guess, a gamble really. One shouldn't suffer due to back of head and neck being so close to the impact area.

To all of us who own (I don't yet) a seven-seater (who in fact does use all seven seats) need to factor in any potential rear entity whose vehicle might not have the same braking prowess as yours or the same driver alertness to not hit you from behind, especially during bottle neck toll gates or a sudden build up of stationary traffic on any open roads city or highway.

I have gradually shifted my mind from the new Safari (already budget stretched) to a better spaced 7-seater. Really, any of the Big brothers - Endeavour, Fortuner or Kodiaq are over my budget. Good luck to me then!

Watch out your back every time you hard brake. No matter how top gun you may think you are, stuff happens. And remorse is a killer.

Drive safe my fellow BHPians!

[arjithin]

A recent accident
Vehicle : Mitsubishi Pajero sport
Rear ended by a truck at ~70kmph while this vehicle was stationary and waiting for a right turn.

Car had a man driving , a 5 month pregnant lady and a kid in car seat. All escaped with minor injuries.

If one was in third row, chances of a serious injury is high.

Photo courtesy: facebook/Mitsubishi Pajero sport forum

[Kumaran93R]

I feel that the chances of rear ending are much greater in India than in the west. This is primarily because of our much greater speed differences on our highways and poor lane discipline. How many times have you slowed down from 120kmph to 20kmph because of an overloaded slow moving piaggo hogging the right most lane? Such instances almost never occur in the west. Also, in general, most drivers don't follow a safe driving distance in accordance to the speed.

Three rear ending instances come to my mind.

First was my close friend's Qualis, which got rear-ended by a truck in 2007. His driver and he were in the front, his parents were in the middle and his wife and his year old baby were in the rear. His baby died on the spot and his wife has become paralyzed because of this accident. I don't think any of the latest 3 row seat cars, except maybe the Kodiaq will be any safer in such an incident.

The second was when my sister was driving our Alto 1.1 from Chennai in 2019. A calf was standing on the right most lane on a curve. She managed to stop the car, only to be rear ended by a Santro just a moment later. The rear quarter panel and the bumper got damaged and have been replaced since.

The latest was when I was in the same Alto 1.1 in Bangalore last month. I was climbing a steep, narrow flyover when all the cars in front of me screeched to a halt. A came to a halt just in time to notice a Duster coming much faster in the rear view mirror. Luckily I removed my foot of the brake in time to let the Duster hit my car and carry us forward a bit. A poor Indigo cab driver who was coming closely behind the Duster crashed into him and his radiator got damaged and lost all its coolant. All this was caused by an idiot on a two wheeler who decided to go on the wrong side of the flyover.

I think Indian crash tests have to take into account our highly variable speeds and our higher chances of rear ending.

[JediKnight]

I think getting rear ended by a big truck can have deadly consequences in all types of vehicles although i agree that last row passengers of a 7 seater may be especially vulnerable. Usually 7 seaters are high and heavy that may help a little bit. A hit from a truck would happen around the number plate area below the glass area of a typical 7 seater. Hope manufacturer have thought through this and put more re-enforcements.

May be the rear seat passengers of small hatches like Honda Brio may be at even more risk with a all glass boot door and super light body. Even low slung sedans may be at great risk since most Indian trucks are high enough to climb over the boot with the bumper hitting the rear glass.

[norhog]

Since it is on the topic of rear end collisions, I like to know about this query from the gurus as I had it for some time now.

When you are wearing seatbelt and the vehicle is rear ended won't the seat belt cause injury?

This is especially true if in case of a rear ended collision, the seat moves ahead due to deforming metal and the seat belt is trying to hold the person back tightly. Just see the picture of Ertiga, how the seats have moved forward due to deforming metal as a result of the collision.
Request your insight and opinions on this.

Thank s in advance.

[Sridhar C E]

Originally Posted by norhog

When you are wearing seatbelt and the vehicle is rear ended won't the seat belt cause injury?.

In the case of the occupants in the 3rd row of an SUV, there's a Hobson's choice - dont wear a seat belt at all, risking hurtling forward in case of sudden braking by the driver, or wear a seat belt and in case of rear ending, become trapped.

In a rear end collision, if the vehicle has all 3 rows of passengers, even without seat belt, the passengers at the back would end up being hurtled forward towards the 2nd row passengers.

Assuming the chances of being rear ended on a highway are lesser than the driver having to brake suddenly, IMHO, it is better that all passengers are belted up.

Sridhar