What Should Buyers Look For To Ensure Car Is Safe?
For all the years I have tracked the sector, one of the most exciting and happy sights is still the one when a car buyer sees her new car for the first time. And their family too in some cases. The expressions range from joy to pride, love to awe! It’s truly special and magical.
For all the years I have tracked the sector, one of the most exciting and happy sights is still the one when a car buyer sees her new car for the first time. And their family too in some cases. The expressions range from joy to pride, love to awe! It’s truly special and magical.
Those moments will always be special. But before any buyers get to that point, they analyse, agonise, and yes in most cases – also haggle! And of course they go over what features their car must have. Rarely is safety a consideration. You either assumes a new modern car is safe anyway, or just don’t think about it. Well you should! And here’s a quick and simple checklist for you to go through.
Safety equipment on a car is usually mentioned in a separate category under its specifications and feature list – on the brochure and on its website. And ideally the salesman should be telling you about it too. Besides airbags – which all cars may not have – you should look for ABS or anti-lock brakes, seatbelts with pre-tensioners, anti-whiplash head restraints (headrests), laminated glass (this is pretty standard these days though). Always ask about the car’s crumple zones and impact absorbing beams – the former are the two ends, and are meant to absorb most of the impact in case of a collision, and also transfer the impact on to areas of the structure that don’t intrude the cabin. Some companies may have special terminology for their own body shell structure, and/or crumple zones. So ask about this for sure.
Some cars will even have multiple airbags, and not just the driver and passenger airbags. There could be curtain, knee, and side airbags for instance – even in cars in mass segments. But none of these features can tell you if the car is rigid and structurally sound. So how do you know that? Well, honestly there is no real way for you to know it for a certainty. Of course every salesman will tell you that their car is very safe! But take the example of the i10 – which is made only in India for the world at the same plant in Chennai. The Indian model failed the crash test miserably, while when the European car had been tested earlier, it had done very well. So obviously two different qualities of construction were being used.
This is why we need an India NCAP – or new car assessment programme. This way all manufacturers will have to get their cars tested and certified. And I don’t just mean any models, but the base models selling in our market. That guarantees that the car has a star rating, and the lower the number of stars, the less safe the car is. While all cars may not carry such a rating on their brochures, the information will then be publically available. So join the chorus for an India NCAP folks. That way it’s not just about the safety features, but safer cars from the inside out. Don’t we deserve safer cars?
How does Honda Brio & Honda Amaze for Indian market fare in the NCAP car test
pl tell how brio etc are safe despite thin shells and tiny boot? Thanx.
Thanks for the valuable information guys.
good initiation. It is time to re-look the Automotive safety standards in India.
Dear blogger,
It is very heartening to see that people like you are eager to give a sense of responsibility to the customers irrespective of the pressure from many a car dealers. I also am of the same thought that customers should ask for details on the safety front so now as I am planning to buy my third car since 2011, let me give all the readers an account of all the cars I have owned, 1st car I owned was a Santro Gls petrol, I changed it after a year as I had my little angel in my family and went for a ford figo titanium for the sake of abs and air bags, but it was a bit closer to the ground , and now have booked a swift zdi only for the sake of our security but do not know as to how secure is zdi.
With regards,
Suhailzd
Companies like Maruti and any other companies have only one moto that to earn profit. They are least bothered about the security. GOI security should take necessary steps and force NCAP and it should be made compulsory to publish on the brochure.
I would like to support the India NCAP!
Need to know about safety standard of SUVs, like Scorpio, XUV & similar level.
Also, as I own a Ford Classic Sedan, need to know if whether it lives up to safety standard as well.
Hi,
Just want to check, as per India NCAP which car is safest.
Thanks,
Naveen
Dear Siddaharth, please let me know which is the best brand to purchase a hatchback with 1200 cc engine. I am on the verge of purchasing anew car. regards Lester
Absolutely we need to raise our vehicle safety standards . The vehicles should have star rating as far as safety is concerned. Mass awareness programs should be conducted.
True. While most importantly, the government should bring in the rules to manufacture cars with this important as well as basic safety feature(as in our country, largely , only rules can bring in the change than awareness), one must also be choosy while spending his hard earned money on cars.
Its a must read article by every prospective car buyer.
Thank you so much Siddhartha. Manufacturer like Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai are producing same model in different strength. It’s proved that they are cheating Indian market. When somebody buys a car, it’s emotionally attached to the heart. These companies are playing with sentiments.It clearly shows that, i10 for Indian market failed NCAP test badly where as made for Europin market passed it clearly. People of India should be aware of the fact.
Very pertinent thoughts… safety is one aspect that is conveniently ignored when someone buys a car in India. This, however, ought to change as more and more cars come on the roads in India. Many lives that get lost on the roads in India can be easily saved if safety considerations are made mandatory.
Indian government can prevent accidents and loss of life by not giving permission to sell the cars without fulfilling safety norms. And to ensure about the compliance of guidelines of government, adopt strict parameters for car manufacturing companies.
Siddharth …..this is truely an amazing work done by you guys to keep the basic survival needs of every indian road users…being working for safety company I some times pitty the attitude of the OEM manufacturers changes when they come to us to design a safety systems for there cars which are launched in India… Also similarly the attitude becomes more quality consiousness when the safety systems are proposed to design for same cars released in Europe or north american market with different cost structure and different technology they ask us to develop. I very well support you for requirements on India NCAP. Only an external institute can evaluate and tell us how well the car can sustain a crash situations.
Why in India, car manufacturers are not following car safety norms, even government looking lazy over this. we know that around 1,40,000 accidents/year is happening, but still government is not emphasizing it seriously. can please put some more to it.?
I felt immensely delighted to know that cars are finally being evaluated for safety. I waited for so long for this to happen here in india.
A big Thank you NCAP. I thank you a lot. And I hope you are here to stay permanently to evaluate our cars.
Also, I request you to consider side and pole impact tests.
I wanted to suggest only one thing which I dreamed long ago.
pls persuade car manufacturers to equip cars with 6 to 10 airbags as standard from base model itself. As well as ESP too. At least 6 airbags, pls.
Thank you.
Thanks to you, soon our market could become safety conscious as western markets.
Eventually, we could slowly introduce moderate and small overlap crash tests into India and make it mandatory to pass these tests.
Thank you.
Contact no- 9704056117
Hi, this is very good initiative. Thanks a lot for trying to put information at one place.
My self Neeraj and I have Maruti Suzuki Swift ZXI model. After seeing NCAP testing result, worrying about driving :(.
I have question though, after seeing such a massive failure result for India’s most popular car, what will be the next action from government?
Hey Sid,
Nice article. Though I am pro-NCAP for all cars, atleast for a minimal level of safety, I have a few points to make here.
1. Most Indians look at cars for need purpose not for luxury. There are exceptions always.
2. To add more safety features, the cost of these would be passed down to the buyers? And then no car in the market would be affordable to the Middle class person. I assume the car would hit into the 6.5lakhs – 7lakhs range. How many of us can afford that? Doesn’t a common man who is usually on a bike, move to the next level and buy a car, a vehicle for a family( I understand its risk on the entire family).
3. How many accidents do we face on roads? Even a million dollar airplane is susceptible to a crash, isn’t it? Does it stop us flying?
4. Cars are cheaper abroad, not in India, taken the per capita income here.
Please add your comments Sid, awaiting!
But since there is no such tests done and mandatory and we do Have any options but to buy it. Media has double standards they praise all these cars in test drives, but say no NCAP , but how we do buy cars then?