[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Kites should be flown in open areas/fields

The issue is although kites may be flown in open grounds, the ones which are cut, ultimately fly and end up somewhere on the overhead electric lines with the strings hanging loose on the road. And since they aren't easily visible, it's a sure shot recipe for disaster especially for the unwary bikers on the road.

During my stay at Gujarat where the kite festival during Uttarayan is widely celebrated, I have noticed two-wheelers installing this contraption to prevent the strings interfering:



You can see a few kites on the overhead electric lines in the pic above.



Really feel sad for the parents who lost their children.

Related thread - Kite manja: The thin line of death

[dark.knight]

Mankind as a species, is incorrigible and illogical. We have hundreds of thousands of motorists arguing about safety, buying more expensive cars due to safety factor and going off on the smallest details like number of airbags, crumple zones, build quality etc and yet they do things like this/allow things like this to happen.

Where in any manufacturers manual will it state that sunroof/moonroof is made so that one can stick his/her head out to catch the breeze? That is NOT the purpose of a narrow sunroof, its purpose is in its name itself > a roof that can be opened to allow sunlight and a bit of breeze to come in. I don't think its good practice to stand up even in a convertible, heck its not good practice to buy a convertible in India not knowing what can fall into the cabin at any given minute. That windshield is there for a reason.. and all occupants must be within its height for optimum safety.

My 2nd axe to grind is with the highly dangerous manja and the way it is made as well, surely there can be better alternatives today made of thin wire and wrapped with PU or some soft flexible rubber, I'm sure if enough people do their research that it can be possible. Kite flying has played out now, its too ancient a "ritual" and suited the times of before where not so many people flew kites as well. Today kite flying from home rooftops must be banned and should be restricted to grounds, if they absolutely must. I've flown kites a couple of times too, personally never found it too entertaining, maybe back in the days of Neolithic era.

[NPV]

Killer manjha: Delhi govt bans kite-flying thread after 3 deaths in two days

The Delhi government on Tuesday banned metal or glass-coated kite-flying threads after stray strings killed within two days at least three people including two toddlers, all of whom were left with slit throats by the razor-sharp artificial fibre.
...

[asingh1977]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I just cannot understand as to how parents can allow kids (or almost infants) to stand with their heads out on the top of the cars. These fellows are Criminals imho.

Originally Posted by GTO

On a recent trip to Lonavla, I lost count of the number of kids (sometimes two together) with their heads out of the sunroof.

I have seen far worse:

1. People perched on the sun roof while the car is coming down the hills of Mussoorie --> Dehra Dun. Those bends are precarious.

2. It is called wind surfing or some other jargon: The person sits on the window (it is fully rolled down), and holds onto the car roof, while it is moving. Almost 50% of the body is out.


I think the only thing left for us Indians is to "car surf" akin to Tarantino's, Death Proof, where the person is spread-eagled on the bonnet, holding two belts.

Sadly in India, value of life is lower than fun and masquerading like buffoons. And creating a public nuisance.

[abirnale]

Really a tragic incidence. Feel sorry for the kid :(

In my car too I have the sunroof and we get tempted to open it up and peak out. But we have made it a point that this is allowed only when we stop for photo-shoots and pictures. Never in a moving car. I am more scared of these things not working the way you expect - the sunroof has anti-pinch function but would I or my family really put the neck in line and trust for it to function? Absolutely NO.

Last weekend when I was headed towards Kannur, saw a new XUV driving towards us. When it approached closer, we were awestruck! A teen sitting on the moving car's bonnet and his father or uncle whoever it was driving it. The teen was holding the selfie stick in his hand and capturing the video of it This was on the road somewhere near Gonikoppal.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by Mpower

It it the manja that is the greater evil (in this case). A two wheeler rider's neck is only a few inches lower than a kid sticking its head out of the sunroof and is just as susceptible. How many 2W do we have in India compared to kids sticking heads out of sunroofs 1: 1million!!
...

Thanks for pointing this out. I'm not able to fathom why people here are so aggravated with the sunroof thing, when clearly the problem is something else. What if these kids were sitting in a convertible?

Originally Posted by asingh1977

I have seen far worse:
.....
2. It is called wind surfing or some other jargon: The person sits on the window (it is fully rolled down), and holds onto the car roof, while it is moving. Almost 50% of the body is out.
........

Sadly very common in Chandigarh and surrounding hill stations too, and there are no open sunroofs on most of these cars, they just hold on to the side of the door itself

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

Thanks for pointing this out. I'm not able to fathom why people here are so aggravated with the sunroof thing, when clearly the problem is something else.

Because those two young lives would not have been lost had the parents stuck to the basics.

Both are issues here. And the actual root cause for both being the negligence shown by our society towards safety, whether it be in purchasing manjha and not disposing it properly, or in letting kids stand with sunroof open.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Because those two young lives would not have been lost had the parents stuck to the basics.

Both are issues here. And the actual root cause for both being the negligence shown by our society towards safety, whether it be in purchasing manjha and not disposing it properly, or in letting kids stand with sunroof open.

Completely agree, but look at the tone of the entire thread and it seems it's just the sunroof that is to blame. Those of us exposed to this nuisance since our childhood know that the magnitude of this manjha problem is far far bigger than what this news conveys. I understand that not completely sensible to compare, but like Mpower said, in terms of fatalities/injuries, this very unfortunate incident is just the tip of iceberg.

The outrage should still be directed at the Majha manufacturers and users, else people will keep dying in hundreds every year even if no one pops his/her head out of the sunroof.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Manja kite strings, or standing up with head out of sunroof?

BOTH

Well said.

But as a regular citizen of this country, it's easier for me to control what's happening inside my car than outside of it. I know all the 3,000 car owners who've viewed this thread will never let their kid stand out of the sunroof for sure.

[JonSnow]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

The issue is although kites may be flown in open grounds, the ones which are cut, ultimately fly and end up somewhere on the overhead electric lines with the strings hanging loose on the road. And since they aren't easily visible, it's a sure shot recipe for disaster especially for the unwary bikers on the road.

Exactly. Most of the accidents seem to be from such cases where the manja from a cut kite is hanging perilously or glides onto roads. If the kite is flying with string intact, it is unlikely to cause such an incident unless someone is flying next to a road. So, just restricting kite flying to open grounds may not be enough.

[razer2911]

It's such a horrifying sight! Whenever I would see people sticking out of the sun roof (most often kids) I would always complain to my wife about how irresponsible these people are and she would say let them have fun. I always imagined that if the car hit a bump or a pothole, it could seriously injure the person but never could I imagine that such a thing could happen as well. This is straight out of some Final Destination movie. Really saddening...

[Dieselritzer]

No parent in this world should have to go through this and my heart goes out to that family.

While this extremely rare event of a manjha proving to be fatal has happened, i feel that a more common risk is that small pebbles, dust particles can enter the eyes and cause severe damaged. I have a school friend who when he was a kid, was standing in front of his dad on his scooter (even i have memories of me doing it on dads bajaj chetak). An extremely tiny object hit his eyes and he had to go through several operations and yet could never get his complete vision back. At times we tease the firangs of being obsessed with safety, but incidents such these make us look absolutely stupid.

There is no "Ctrnl+Z" in Life. I hope this news is spread everywhere purely with the intent of creating awareness.

[SnS_12]

Forget kids, even teenagers and adults do this and they are literally exposed waist and above. A very common sight on Marine drive, Carter road and Bandstand in Mumbai.

Just imagine if the driver has to apply sudden brake or change lane to avoid hitting an obstacle or worst the car turns turtle??

Anyway, this is really a tragic incident and may god give the strength to the family during this difficult time.

[vipinendran]

It is only in our country we find new ways to die on the road. Such callous attitude by our own fellow country men is resulting in high amount of indiscipline where everyone wants to do as he or she pleases on the streets has now turned our roads into killing fields. Unless very very serious action is taken against such offenders it will be extremely risky to take out our vehicles and ride safely in another 10 years time.

[400notout]

Gruesome incident. Even if we take manja out of the equation here, how safe is putting your body out of the sunroof?

I have seen quite a lot of cases where a kid is half out of the sunroof, sometimes two of them depending on the size of the vehicle.

Even in case of a small accident what about the whiplash effect? Not being negative here but an "accident" doesn't inform in advance and is usually over in a matter of seconds.

Why do we Indians think we are immortal?