Car Safety: Before You Buy a New Car, Read This!

It's no secret that seat belts are quite effective at preventing accidents. Unfortunately, not everyone follows the safety guidelines and ends up getting injured. This is why it's so important that regulators take action and penalize passengers in the rear for not wearing seat belts. This new regulation is a welcomed move, and it sends a clear message to the public that safety is number one.

After the death of Cyrus Mistry, we hear of a new regulation that will penalize passengers in the rear for not wearing seat belts.

But, is it enough?

According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' India (21-22) annual report, there were 449,002 road accidents and 151,113 deaths in India during the year. The number of people killed per 100 accidents has increased by over 33% from 21.6 in 2005 to 33.7 in 2019 is striking. Other this -

The focus in the aftermath is on the seat belt. The three-point seat belt engineered by Nils Evar Bohlin, a passive safety device first incorporated into a car by Volvo in 1959, and now standard in vehicles sold in India, is a low-cost restraint system that prevents occupants of a vehicle from being thrown forward in a crash.

In a car crash, particularly at moderate to high speeds, the driver or passenger with no seat belt continues to move forward at the vehicle's speed, until some object stops the occupant. This could be the steering wheel, dashboard or windscreen for those in front, and the front seat, dashboard or windscreen for those in the rear.

The Centre for Road Safety at the Transport Department of New South Wales, Australia (NSW Centre), which has had a compulsory seat belt rule since 1971 explains that “even if the vehicle is fitted with an airbag, the force at which an unrestrained occupant strikes the airbag can cause serious injuries.”

Without an airbag, and no seat belt restraint, a severe crash leads to the occupant of the rear seat striking the seat in front with such force that “it is sufficient for the seat mountings and seat structures to fail,” says the NSW Centre.

The seat belt performs many functions, notably slowing the occupant at the same rate as the vehicle, distributing the physical force in a crash across the stronger parts of the body such as the pelvis and chest, preventing collisions with objects within the vehicle and sudden ejection. Newer technologies to “pretension” the belt, sense sudden pull forces and apply only as much force as is necessary to safely hit the airbags.

Absence of seat belts could lead to rear seat occupants colliding with internal objects in the car, or even being ejected through the front windscreen during the collision.

Head restraints, which are found either as adjustable models or moulded into the seats, prevent a whiplash injury. This type of injury occurs mostly when the vehicle is struck from behind, leading to sudden extreme movement of the neck backwards and then forwards.

It could also happen vice versa in other circumstances. The injury involves the muscles, vertebral discs, nerves and tendons of the neck, says Johns Hopkins Medicine, and is manifested as neck stiffness, pain, numbness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision and sleeplessness among others.

The head restraint built into the seat must be properly placed and aligned with the neck, to prevent the injury in a vehicle accident. A study done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the U.S. estimated that claims for neck injuries were lower by 11% when the seats and restraints were rated good by it, compared to those rated poor.

Source-The Hindu

Seat-belt safety is often ignored in India. Not many are aware of the rule that mandates rear seat belts. According to a recent road ministry report, the number of persons killed and injured because of not wearing a seat belt during 2020 stood at 15,146 and 39,102, respectively.

Maharashtra’s record when it comes to wearing seat belts is dismal. In 2019, 5.50 lakh challans were issued against motorists not wearing seat belts which increased to 9.14 lakh by September 2022. The total fine imposed was a whopping Rs 23.09 crore.

Source-FirstPost

What is the history of crash testing in India?

Twelve years ago India had no crash test standards and the Tata Nano was struggling to become commercially viable even as the world’s cheapest ultra-low cost vehicle.

Later on, the central government announced in 2015 that UN equivalent crash test standards for front and side impact will be applied in India for new models from 1 October 2017 and for all cars from 1 October 2019.

In addition, the government also committed to apply the standard for pedestrian protection, again in two phases from 1 October 2018 and 1 October 2020.

How Indian standards are different from Global Standards?

As per the Indian government’s latest safety norms (applicable to all new models since October 2017, and to all models on sale from October 2019), to be eligible for sale, a car must meet front offset and side impact crash requirements.

The Indian government’s front offset test is conducted at 56 kph which, though lower than the Global NCAP’s front offset crash test speed, is in line with the United Nations’ Regulation 94 for front collison protection.

By extension, and this is important to note, it is possible for a car to meet latest Indian regulations and, hence be eligible for sale, and yet may fail in the Global NCAP. NCAP’s requirements for a good score are often superior to minimum regulatory requirements. Also, note NCAP protocols change every couple of years to include more tests or features.

Source -Swarajya

Thousands of ordinary people lose their lives every day for no reason whatsoever, and it's unfortunate that a well-known business tycoon died in this manner. It's time for us to pay attention and tighten the existing weak safety certification and rating standards for Indian vehicles.

Please consider above mention points before buying a new car because Our lives are worth it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------