Bharat NCAP: Indian Car Crash Test Programme

[mittraluditranjan]

Read this news in Times Of India.

Welcoming decision by Indian Government


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...t-for-Indian-cars/articleshow/38392217.cmsent.

Your comments petrol heads.

 

[bharathbigb]

Thank you sir for the Heart Relieving News !!It surely a very Good move by Indian Government.

BUT,You Know what ??

Nobody cares for Safety in a Car.

Thats what I understood when I lost my beloved friend in a Car Crash (Vehicle-i10) and in TAI where Almost All TAI-gers Don't care about safety.

About my Beloved Friend (B.Vignesh)-My friend was sitting right next to my Schooldays (I am now 15 only but stopped schools for Automobiles) to me the day he died.His Dad asked me between Chevrolet Beat,Maruti Ritz and the Hyundai i10.I told him to go for a safer car,The Chevy beat and Intentionally he went for the i10 as he knew Hyundai's A.S.S are better than Chevy and the Product was better than Chevy's.I congratulated him on his new car and after 17 Days he went on a Highway trip.The Car was extremely left end of the road at 100 Km/h and He was Overtaking a Truck,He again went Left and He did not notice that Huge Barrier and @ 100 Kmh per hour,A top-end Brand new Hyundai i10 diesel Was SMASHED at the Front Passenger's Side (Ofcourse My Friend was sitting in the Front seat).Both of Them (His Dad and his Son) were Crushed to death by the Impact.His Wife was at the rear and Had a Major Knee Injury and she is fine now but cannot walk in her rest of her life.The Impact was around 5 PM.I am actually crying when writing this wondering why they and Other people did not and are not considering safety as a very important feature.

TAIns-I could have said a 100 or even more times at 'The Automotive Shopper' Category to TAIns looking to buy a car under a budget, to go for a safer car.Ex-Fiat Linea,Chevy Sail instead of a Swift Dzire (Because the Maruti has lesser Crumple zone) etc.But In All my subscribed thread,I got a reply 'No' in several Ways Ex-I did not like Interiors so I am Rejecting it.etc.I strongly Encourage People and all the TAIns to consider safety as the Most important feature of Any Car !!

Here is a Shocker - The First rule ever given to a Matiz was to bring safety as a Foremost Feature and Nobody Cared.Some knew and Some did not.It was the only car that has passed the Safety Test with 5 Stars from Euro NCAP and IIHS way back in 1999.Even to day It is the Safest Car we can get under 1 Lakh Rupees and also Much safer than the Nano,Eon and the Alto 800 and I can still recommend a Matiz Anyday compared to a Nano or whatsoever like it.

If Anyone feels I am offensive to owners of Maruti and Hyundai,I am really sorry.I got emotional about what happened to my friend as from that day On,Bringing safety to cars was my Most important Dream of which Indian Government should do and must have done this a long time ago.When they did this,I just thought god has Made my Dream True.I am Really Sorry.Thank you

 

[mittraluditranjan]

People require Interior,space,mileage etc. No one actually think of safety, some cross question me by saying what if airbags are not deployed? and start giving some examples, but they don't think of examples where airbags and abs saved someone's life. This move must be welcomed.
Kudos to our transport minister.

 

[DJ bro]

Even though a safest car is bought, what is the use if people don't fasten their seat belts?
First, people should be educated about Seat-belts and basic life saving utilities. Then only crash tests will be useful.

 

[Akash]

+1 to DJbros's point.
Although I welcome this move, however, the issue with safety on Indian roads is not always the build quality of the vehicle but the driving habits.
They should IMO bring in awareness amongst the drivers about the importance of seat belts, lane rules and usage of proper indicators.

 

[TSIVipul]

If crash tests are made mandatory, that means one can safely assume either discontinuation or a steep price rise in the entry level cars(even upto Swift/Dzire), the effects of this 'safety' on Indian car market will be the interesting part.

Nobody cares for Safety in a Car.

For that "God will protect us" attitude is responsible.

Car was extremely left end of the road at 100 Km/h and He was Overtaking a Truck,He again went Left and He did not notice that Huge Barrier and @ 100 Kmh per hour,A top-end Brand new Hyundai i10 diesel Was SMASHED at the Front Passenger's Side (Ofcourse My Friend was sitting in the Front seat).Both of Them (His Dad and his Son) were Crushed to death by the Impact

Leave i10, even Punto and Polo, in fact most of the cars(Under 20 lac at least) do fail when faced a direct hit at 100 kph. even the ones like Honda City and Corolla too.

 

[Indian]

Very welcome move even though its already late. But manufacturers take advantage and we will see hiked up prices. I wont be surprised if I see couple of 'fixing' scandals in this area too. .
@Bharath, At 100km/h someone hitting a barrier at head-on I think no car will sustain with any kinds of airbags and safety built in. Sorry to hear that sad news.
Yes we Indians don't care about the safety, as long as prices are cheap we want it. Not just in automobiles but everywhere. People buy low end variant and then add fog lights(just for the looks) and all kinds of childish stuff and eventually spend more than the top end variant missing valuables like ABS and airbags!
People with top end variant will not wear a seat belts, putting themselves into bigger risk at impact than having a non-airbaged car. I have a doctor neighbor with Verna, he takes is car putting his 3 year old child between his laps while driving and all my neighbors clap at his bravery!

We just need to change.

 

[BoltFromTheBlue]

That was a long awaited decision to be taken by the government. Most welcomed.

 

[mittraluditranjan]

Even though a safest car is bought, what is the use if people don't fasten their seat belts?
First, people should be educated about Seat-belts and basic life saving utilities. Then only crash tests will be useful.

Completely agree with you. My concern is about small cars like alto,nano etc,these cars are sold in bulk and according to some crash test the chassis of alto is that weak that a person's life is in danger if the car is having airbags and abs also. The test was conducted at 60 kmph speed.

Indians generally wear seat belts due to fear of police. I think about 95% Indians do this (including me most of the times). We know that seat belts can protect us but what is the reason that we don't like to wear seat belts. Are we that much lethargic?

 

[Viru]

For that "God will protect us" attitude is responsible.

I agree completely. In India I am shocked to hear this kind of statement even from educated persons!

 

[TSIVipul]

People with top end variant will not wear a seat belts, putting themselves into bigger risk at impact than having a non-airbaged car. I have a doctor neighbor with Verna, he takes is car putting his 3 year old child between his laps while driving and all my neighbors clap at his bravery!

We just need to change.

I still remember how an over smart Skoda guy was fooling customers telling them "Rapid has got active airbags and they work even if seatbelts are not tied". The hell, who will tell those 'impressed' people that its more dangerous than even no-airbags situation? And Skoda is giving active airbags instead of SRS!!

Rest coming to not wearing seatbets, any car with SRS airbags will not get the airbags deployed until the seatbelts are on.

 

[BoltFromTheBlue]

Completely agree with you. My concern is about small cars like alto,nano etc,these cars are sold in bulk and according to some crash test the chassis of alto is that weak that a person's life is in danger if the car is having airbags and abs also. The test was conducted at 60 kmph speed.

Indians generally wear seat belts due to fear of police. I think about 95% Indians do this (including me most of the times). We know that seat belts can protect us but what is the reason that we don't like to wear seat belts. Are we that much lethargic?

Yes me too most of the times in earlier days. Offlate (like 2 years ago) i made myself this as a habit!

Yes we are lethargic for some tasks and active for most of them. Its the same with wearing the helmet while driving the bikes. From point A to B we want to do n-number of tasks in between en-route. Hence the effective number of times we take pitstops is a little more when compared to european citizens or north american citizens and hence this lethargy to wear and remove the seat belts n-number of times from point A to point B .

This must be avoided for a safe journey.

 

[Indian]

I still remember how an over smart Skoda guy was fooling customers telling them "Rapid has got active airbags and they work even if seatbelts are not tied". The hell, who will tell those 'impressed' people that its more dangerous than even no-airbags situation? And Skoda is giving active airbags instead of SRS!!

Yep, I have seen that many times. Sales persons first finds out if you are buying a lower end or a high end customer. Once they got it their explanation of safety completely makes the U turn. One of my colleague bought a Duster 120PS without airbags paying 14L(KA) and when enquired why no airbags? he said "I was told that these air bags deploy for simplest type of collisions even if you hit a dog, and when deployed you have to spend about 75k for replacement" . Salesman wanted to get rid of some existing stock here.

Rest coming to not wearing seatbets, any car with SRS airbags will not get the airbags deployed until the seatbelts are on

Are you sure about it? I was also under the same impression for some time but later I did some research and I was not able to find any documentation rather than people posting messages saying airbags dont deploy when seat belts are not worn? Totally agree on SRS saying the airbags are supplementary restraint system, and not effective without the primary restraints(seat belts), but not sure if its mechanically enforced?


Edit: from Wiki

Under some rare conditions, airbags can injure and in some very rare instances kill vehicle occupants. To provide crash protection for occupants not wearing seat belts, US airbag designs trigger much more forcefully than airbags designed to the international ECE standards used in most other countries. Recent "smart" airbag controllers can recognize if a seatbelt is used, and alter the airbag cushion deployment parameters accordingly.[70]

Does this mean Indian cars also follow the US rules?

 

[mittraluditranjan]

According to me driver side airbag opens without seat belt but its not the same for passenger side airbag.

 

[TSIVipul]

Completely agree with you. My concern is about small cars like alto,nano etc,these cars are sold in bulk and according to some crash test the chassis of alto is that weak that a person's life is in danger if the car is having airbags and abs also. The test was conducted at 60 kmph speed.

60 kph is for Alto, Nano etc. While cars like City, Safari etc are also not very much safe if subjected to a direct hit at 100 kph.
Hence I am forced to think if the prices of how many cars will skyrocket if crash tests are made mandatory and how many of them will be discontinued.

Indians generally wear seat belts due to fear of police. I think about 95% Indians do this (including me most of the times). We know that seat belts can protect us but what is the reason that we don't like to wear seat belts. Are we that much lethargic?

One more: Wear a ligh color shirt and you will see the effect of seatbelt(if your car isn't brand new at least) on it. I mean, seatbelt simply leaves the mark(on shoulder and collar) and I am facing this issue very badly and for the same reason I take either chauffy with me or drive with seatbets fastened(If I don't then that alarm maddens me) but on my back in case I am wearing a light colored shirt.

Yes we are lethargic for some tasks and active for most of them. Its the same with wearing the helmet while driving the bikes. From point A to B we want to do n-number of tasks in between en-route. Hence the effective number of times we take pitstops is a little more when compared to european citizens or north american citizens and hence this lethargy to wear and remove the seat belts n-number of times from point A to point B .

I guess people must adapt a habit of walking and covering an area of at least one/fourth of a square kilometer while shopping, I personally don't pick motorcycle until it's at least half a kilometer away and car until its either raining or there are a lot of things to be bought. Personally I don't find it sensible to take the car and then driving it from shop-to-shop(I have seen intello guys doing it) making it uncomfy for self as well as other road users.

Yep, I have seen that many times. Sales persons first finds out if you are buying a lower end or a high end customer. Once they got it their explanation of safety completely makes the U turn. One of my colleague bought a Duster 120PS without airbags paying 14L(KA) and when enquired why no airbags? he said "I was told that these air bags deploy for simplest type of collisions even if you hit a dog, and when deployed you have to spend about 75k for replacement" . Salesman wanted to get rid of some existing stock here.

Well, if it's so then most of the airbags equipped cars would have been lying in the workshops for airbag replacement. My car faced quite good hits but airbags never opened because none of the hit was strong enough to hurt me inside the car.

Are you sure about it? I was also under the same impression for some time but later I did some research and I was not able to find any documentation rather than people posting messages saying airbags dont deploy when seat belts are not worn? Totally agree on SRS saying the airbags are supplementary restraint system, and not effective without the primary restraints(seat belts), but not sure if its mechanically enforced?

If seatbelts are not worn then the airbags are actually going to be life threatening, their purpose is to assist seatbelts by providing 'some' cushion that can 'evenly' distribute the force of collision of the person moving ahead and hence retard their speed of motion without causing much of the damage to them. If seatbelts are not worn, then you yourself can imagine the condition of the person who is being pushed ahead at 60 kph and airbag hitting him from front at some speed with nothing to retard his speed while moving towards the airbag.

Does this mean Indian cars also follow the US rules?

This is something I am also not sure of.