[supermax]

A common excuse I've heard people use when people don't buckle up is that they always belt up when driving on the highway. It's only in city traffic that they don't belt up apparently, but studies have repeatedly shown just how dangerous a crash can be, even at relatively low speeds.

Here's a video showing the results of a crash test at 30 km/h, conducted by the Swedish department of transportation research. 30 km/h is a speed we manage our exceed, even in the midst of all the chaos that's Indian traffic. The effects on the unbelted passenger need to be seen, to be believed. Please encourage everyone you know to belt up, whether they are driving within the city or on the highways.

https://youtu.be/3FrdIMsyRNE

[antz.bin]

They should have added 2 more adult dummies to the rear seats. Both unbelted.

That would have covered a majority of the use cases on how so many people in India drive.

Even the one dummy on the driving seat that did have his seat belt on would have not been safe.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by supermax

Here's a video showing the results of a crash test at 30 km/h, conducted by the Swedish department of transportation research. 30 km/h is a speed we manage our exceed, even in the midst of all the chaos that's Indian traffic. The effects on the unbelted passenger need to be seen, to be believed.
https://Youtu.be/3FrdIMsyRNE

Thanks for sharing this. I have been advocating this to some known people and most argue that the belt is only required on highways. We are still in a sorry state of things when it comes to safety in India, be it car safety or anything else. We are still 100 years behind when it comes to that rule when a child that is born cannot leave the hospital till a rear facing authorised child seat is purchased and used. And all children below certain age/weight need a car child seat. And because of no such rule many car manufacturers do not provide isophix seat connections on their cars.

Originally Posted by antz.bin

They should have added 2 more adult dummies to the rear seats. Both unbelted.

I fact they should also add a child on the lap of the passenger seat in front. This is a common site in India and most of the times the passenger is in seat belts while the child is just on the lap ready to fly out.

[supermax]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

They should have added 2 more adult dummies to the rear seats. Both unbelted.

Yes, that would have been informative and illustrative.

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Thanks for sharing this. I have been advocating this to some known people and most argue that the belt is only required on highways. We are still in a sorry state of things when it comes to safety in India, be it car safety or anything else. We are still 100 years behind when it comes to that rule when a child that is born cannot leave the hospital till a rear facing authorised child seat is purchased and used. And all children below certain age/weight need a car child seat. And because of no such rule many car manufacturers do not provide isophix seat connections on their cars.

I fact they should also add a child on the lap of the passenger seat in front. This is a common site in India and most of the times the passenger is in seat belts while the child is just on the lap ready to fly out.

As part of the mandatory training that is required in order to get a driver's license here in Sweden, one undergoes a special training where one dies rapid acceleration and emergency style braking. In the real world, most of us never do this and the unlucky ones have only one experience which doesn't end well. Here, every single aspiring driver gets to experience these things multiple times in a very safe environment and therefore learn firsthand how critical seatbelts are. I got to do a 70 to 0 stop with full braking input, and man, it was violent. I felt the snap of the belt and how it held me in place as the car came to a really fast stop. Without the belt, I'd have had bits of my skull splattered over the windscreen. Those who get this kind of training are far less likely to break rules and far more likely to insist that their passengers too toe the line.

Another thing I wanted to add was a bit of context about this crash test itself. This car is considered as 'tractor class A' as it has been restricted to not exceed 40 km/h. Tractor class A doesn't require any license to drive, so it is very popular among teenagers, as anyone over 15 can drive these after passing a theory test and taking a few mandatory lessons (no driving test). It's often observed that teens, particularly in the passenger seat, don't belt up in these cars, thinking that it's not needed. It is specifically to debunk that myth that this crash test has been carried out.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Forget about 30 km/hr, my friend's wife's head hit the windshield when the car encountered a pothole on a colony road at 10 km/hr.

She was on the passenger seat, unbelted.

[bullitt1]

People think that the effects of crash would be felt at higher speeds only. Such an eye opener, as stated earlier, if they had couple of dummies at the rear, perfectly simulates the driving condition here.

[RedTerrano]

Excellent video! Thanks for posting.
I have already shared the link on my WA groups.

Is there any similar one for two wheelers?
Slow speed, is one of the favourite reasons given by Punekars, who are notoriously anti helmet.

[Gansan]

I had mentioned earlier in another thread about this. I once hit the wall of my apartment head on while drawing up close to it for parking. The speed was just 5 kmph or less. Since I was entering the premises from the road, my seat belt was still on. I was crawling up to the wall, misjudged and the car came to a sudden stop after squarely hitting it.

I was abruptly pulled forward but the seat belt prevented me from hitting anything. After getting down I noticed there was no damage at all to the wall or car, with only some slight scatches on the bumper. But the impact had simply taken my breath away, even though the car was barely at walking pace.

Six times faster with no seat belts, and there will definitely be serious injuries if not worse!

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

They should have added 2 more adult dummies to the rear seats. Both unbelted.

Originally Posted by supermax

every single aspiring driver gets to experience these things multiple times in a very safe environment and therefore learn firsthand how critical seatbelts are. It is specifically to debunk that myth that this crash test has been carried out.

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Forget about 30 km/hr, my friend's wife's head hit the windshield when the car encountered a pothole on a colony road at 10 km/hr. She was on the passenger seat, unbelted.

Originally Posted by bullitt1

People think that the effects of crash would be felt at higher speeds only. Such an eye opener, as stated earlier, if they had couple of dummies at the rear, perfectly simulates the driving condition here.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Six times faster with no seat belts, and there will definitely be serious injuries if not worse!

The below video shows the condition of unbelted front and rear occupants vis-a-vis belted occupants. The test was conducted at 40km/h and it is violent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Af8w2SAT4

[GeeTee TSI]

Just the video for building awareness, especially to disprove the ridiculous logic of not wearing seatbelts while stuck in city traffic. Even in crawling (Bangalore!) traffic the instances of crossing 30km/hr are innumerable

Unable to convince people other than those who travel in my car, I tend to avoid travelling with such wilfully ignorant educated folks. Me wearing seatbelts in the rear with other unbelted passengers (child even!) felt uneasy and hopeless throughout the journey

[mango_pal]

They should have done this experiment with real volunteers who don't believe in seatbelts. Might have "knocked" some sense into there heads��

[grshnehete]

I think Indians don't value human lives in general. Things are taken for granted & believe that they will never get involved in any accident.

New cars come with a warning chime, when the passenger is seated and seat belt is not buckled in. But people have found a workaround for that too. I have seen my distant relatives having the passenger side seat bucked up permanently and they sit directly on the seat with belt under them, instead of over them.

I think car makers will have to come up with something like, car should not start if anyone sitting have not wore the seat belt with help of camera or something.

Thankfully, my 4 year old son loves to buckle up his lap belt after seeing me wearing the seat belt every time, but I am still having hard time convincing my parents to wear it while seating in the back.

[nyt2090]

I personally know few people that complaint about the seat belt warning "why it's not stopping " , just wear it