[raycers_honda]

Well, maybe now in India there will be a ban on sunroofs. It is dangerous to stick your head or allow your kid to pop out of it. But then again I feel if the driver is going at a slow speed on maybe an empty road or low traffic area then why not, just a little fun for the kiddies. It's better and safer than sitting on a bike with your kid upfront which millions in our country do. Not that I want to justify anything here !
If the driver drives responsibly and is aware of the road conditions or aware of low branches etc then I guess it should be alright. But then again an accident could take place even if one is driving slowly. It might not be the slow drivers fault when a fast driver makes a misjudgment causing an accident. So basically in short one has to keep in mind all these risk factors when occupants in the car perform these acts of popping their heads out of the sunroof.

[download2live]

I have seen too many young women doing this on Friday night in MG road and Residency Road in Bangalore.
That they are doing this is not much of concern. What scares me that most of them are drunk, including the driver given the way the car is driven.

If people want to kill themselves we cannot really do much. But I feel that in the process they will smash up some innocent people too.

[hellmet]

At the risk of sounding insensitive, and as dangerous as this act may be, if the kids (or adults or whoever) want to peek out of the sunroof, let them do so. If in the process they happen to injure themselves, hospitals would gladly treat them. As long as they do not endanger the lives of others on the road (or off it, by say crashing into pedestrians), I'd say let them have their 2 minutes of Hollywood madness.

No victim? No crime! Enough laws already.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by hellmet

At the risk of sounding insensitive, and as dangerous as this act may be, if the kids (or adults or whoever) want to peek out of the sunroof, let them do so. If in the process they happen to injure themselves, hospitals would gladly treat them..... No victim? No crime! Enough laws already.

Have to disagree with this. Kids are not capable of making such decisions - if parents endanger them by permitting them to stick their heads through windows or sun roofs, the parents are committing a crime. It also makes it tough for other parents - my 5 year old often wants to sit in the front seat of our Superb or ride a cycle without a helmet thanks to his friends doing the same.

Agree fully for adults though, I am all for letting stupid adults sit in cars without seat belts or ride motorbikes without helmets - we don't need a nanny state telling adults what to do as long as they don't endanger others.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by hellmet

At the risk of sounding insensitive, and as dangerous as this act may be, if the kids (or adults or whoever) want to peek out of the sunroof, let them do so...No victim? No crime! Enough laws already.

I agree wholeheartedly but the truth is that there may be victims and they would probably be children. Nobody would shed too many tears if some spoil brats got their noggins knocked off but it would be tragic if some innocent child were injured, or worse, because their parents were stupid.

It's probably not as widespread a problem as you'd imagine but it wouldn't hurt to spread awareness whichever way we can, since people who can afford to buy a car with a sunroof are presumably affluent and educated enough to see reason. Presumably!

[harit]

I fully agree with magneto about the dangers of these kind of rides. Suroofs are meant to have a little opening for airflow from the roof, totally unnecessary when you drive airconditioned cars.
When kids are sticking out through the roof, it becomes a misuse of the sunroof. And that, should be checked by the authorities, just as they check the use of seat belts and helmets. With a sudden brake a kid can fall on the driver, leading to worse accidents. Why does one have to wait for an accident to happen before taking action? Speed is not an issue here, slow or fast, this is not done. No car manufacturer will ever tell you that the sunroof is meant for you to look out of and feel the breeze in your hair.. They just have not made any provision for one to stand safely on front seats, fully protected by being safely strapped, there is not even a suitable foot rest available.
As magneto mentioned, in some countries children can only be seated at the rear, toddlers must have a child seat, no adult is allowed to seat toddlers on their laps. There are no exceptions, however careful the driver may be, how do you measure that? Whether you do this in the day or night, how does that matter with respect to safety? Cars are normally enclosing passengers for their safety. So the bright spark sticks his head out of the protection zone. How daft.
Sunroofs were very seldom seen in India, I do know that a few were fitted on Fiats, maybe an Amby too, rarely used, just to show off an accessory which not everyone had. A few Mercs and such imported cars came fitted with them, I have seen these being welded shut because they leaked.
I think one of the first to offer a sunroof was Opel with their Astra Club, it came as a package. We had one, requested for a car without sunroof, not possible as the car which was readily available was already fitted with one. We must have used it 10 times in its entire life, later once opened it would not close properly, GM stopped support for Opels, and my car has a thick tape on the roof.
I did hear that today kids to ask Papa to buy the new car with a sunroof. Shows lack of basic knowledge and education on the purpose of a sunroof.
Sadly, Indian manufacturers do not offer any medium priced convertibles. These are meant for open air motoring, designed as such and include safety features. I have seen Opel Astra convertibles, they were made, and they did look quite nice.
Lastly, a rule all should follow when moving in a car being driven, ""Please remain seated""

Cheers harit

[Axe77]

I saw the worst transgression on this account yesterday. Saw a DL regd skoda superb driving on the mumbai pune expressway with 2 boys standing out of the sun roof. I simply couldn't believe my eyes. Both husband and wife seemed to be in the car and only these two boys.

Guy was doing a steady 100-120 at least, weaving through traffic and this went on from well before the ghats till all the way past the ghats (till then he had gone beyond me).

What kind of ignorant duffers would do this beats me. Really made my blood boil looking at this ignorant behaviour.

[shankar.balan]

In the 70's , 80's and 90's many people, especially the taxi type chaps, used to drive open jeeps in the hills. These were usually packed to capacity. At least 3 in front plus another three on each of the two rear bench seats. Of course times were different then and so were the speeds and the sheer number of cars on the roads.
There were no seat belts and other safety aids then. The hill roads were narrow and potholed. More often than not there were sheer drops on one side and sheer cliffs on the other side! the roads were about 10 to 12 feet wide. The jeeps had just the grab handles in front and some grab bars at the back behind the back rests. It did not matter then at all.
Even nowadays one simply has to visit interior bits of Coorg and Nilgiris to see estate workers being transported this way. Even construction workers in cities are packed into LCVs and taken to their work sites!
However, times, speeds, crowds and road manners are different now so it is better that the rules of safety are followed and enforced properly.

[ghodlur]

Saw a Chevy Cruze today morning on the way to office in Powai area with two school children sticking their heads out of the sunroof. Worst was when the car was braked, the children were pushed forward. God forbid any sharp object on the sunroof and it would have been a disaster. Sad part was the people inside the car were enjoying the children antics (and maybe encouraging them too).

What would be the fine/charges if the traffic cops catch the car with such an act?

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by noopster

but it would be tragic if some innocent child were injured, or worse, because their parents were stupid.

It's probably not as widespread a problem as you'd imagine but it wouldn't hurt to spread awareness whichever way we can

Absolutely! I've read through this thread and see many arguments trying to justify this behaviour - jeeps from 70's, 80's didnt have any safety features, people in interiors still travel this way, at slow speeds sticking your head (or whatever other body part) out of sunroof, Windows is ok etc.

WE are responsible for safety of ourselves, our kids and others around us who might be affected by our actions - on the road, at home, at work, everywhere - as informed adults we need to be aware of risks & consequences of our actions.

After all you would not encourage your kid to stick their hand into a running blender or out of those old fashioned grill door lifts just cos it's slow, would you? How about letting your kids walk on the building terrace ledge?

We didn't have seatbelts on older cars, doesn't mean we should not use them on our modern day cars. Safety features evolve and will keep evolving mainly due to our propensity to get ourselves and others injured in innovative ways.

If still people believe ignoring safety is ok then go right ahead, ignore the next red signal, don't wear seatbelts, let your passengers stick out of various windows and sunroofs and rejoice in the fact that you have more money than common sense.

End of rant.

[MX6]

Last sunday I saw a full grown adult standing with half his body out of the sunroof in the SUV that was doing over 100 kph on the Mumbai Pune e-way.
And he was standing that way for a good deal of 5 - 6 kms (apparently trying to take photos of the sun set.
Sadly, I didn't have my car cam connected else would have uploaded a video here.
What's worse? The driver was shifting across lanes accelerating faster down the slope that leads to the first rest area post the Talegaon toll plaza towards Mumbai.

[Monolithic]

I witnessed a funny incident at Thekkady, Kerala. Some tourists came in their Chevrolet Cruze. One of them was standing through the rough clicking photos. As they were driving going out, a monkey jumped on the car and snatched his camera. The monkey then tried jumping off and it smashed the camera to ground. Almost everyone hid their cameras after this and the man was aghast and almost cried looking at his cam.

[selfdrive]

This unfortunate new habit of sticking the head out the sunroof is really scary considering the possible consequences. I dont have an issue as long as any adult wants to do that to themselves as long as they dont come within 10 metres of me or my vehicle. to allow kids to that should be treated as a crime.

I just hope one of these risk taking people get their sunroof doused from the nearest bus spitter. The fact they think that is the worst that can happen to them is the most unfortunate part of it all.

But then are these the same parents who ride two wheelers with:
- kids sitting on the rear seat facing backwards
- infants strapped/ tied to their waist with a cloth
- infants/ kids sitting on the footboard cross legged?

I spotted such a moron the other day riding her Activa on a busy arterial road at evening peak hours with a sleepy toddler tied to her waist. For some distance, I instinctively tried to shield her bike from other faster vehicles. I hope the child reached home safely and does not have to undergo this torture again.

If they cannot respect the life and limb of their own children, I can only feel bad for those kids. I think these people should be sent to Norway. Or have such rules here.

[moralfibre]

Here's another one I spotted last weekend on Wellesley Road, Pune. The owner was pretty excited to give his daughter a wind in the hair experience and was revving the car away to glory. He didn't seem to realize the perils of indulging in such senseless behavior:

[sagarpadaki]

Yesterday saw a 5 series with a girl who looked in her teens with her torso out of Sun roof on Nice road. Worst part was the car was easily doing 100 plus and the girl was giving a titanic pose !! God bless such creatures on earth