indias safest cars :: essays research papers

How often do you wake up to the news of a road accident that killed a few people in some part of the country? Almost everyday, right? Then you quickly browse through the other news and life goes on. Every year, over 80,000 people die on Indian roads; every five road accidents leave one dead. Yet, it's just a statistic, which hardly changes our apathy towards road safety. Yes, road safety is an unpleasant, boring subject, but remember, it affects us all. How safe is the car you are driving or about to buy? How does one rate safety and who does it? We have compiled some information on a handful of cars that are available across the world and are also on sale in India, and their safety features and test results. We think you have the right to know. First, a little backgrounder. By law, all cars have to be tested and have to meet certain standards to be street legal. New Car Assessment Programmes (NCAPs) are carried out by various testing agencies in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia amongst other countries. The European NCAP carries out the most stringent crash tests, as well as pedestrian and child safety tests vis-Ã  -vis other assessment programmes. Euro NCAP is a collaboration between governmental and automotive associations and is overseen by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile). The money for these expensive tests comes from the EU, by which the widest possible range of models can be assessed. Euro NCAP carries out frontal offset, side impact and pole test and has a simple rating system that awards stars out of five. This rating system makes it easy to interpret safety standards in cars before people go out to buy them. Over and above this, manufacturers can go ahead and carry out further tests that are not required by legislation and choose to incorporate these additional safety features. Let's then see how the cars have fared now. The Hyundai Accent GLS got an adult occupant rating of 2.5 stars and a pedestrian test rating of 2 stars. The levels of chest injury in adult occupants was exceptionally high, and hence the Accent missed out a full third star. Moreover, this car was fitted with a driver side airbag. For cars sold in Europe, side airbags come as an option. Accents are also equipped with Isofix anchorages and are electronically assisted by ABS and EBD.