India's Safest Cars

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-Ðo-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. Three-point seat-belts in the front and rear also enhance safety. Hyundai go as far as offering ABS on two out of their four models of the Accent sold in India.

The Mitsubishi Lancer GLX also offered poor protection to the driver's chest in side impact tests and the car structure became unstable, causing the floor pan to rupture in the frontal impact test. This gave the Lancer 2.5 stars for adult occupancy rating and 2 stars for pedestrian rating.

Child occupancy rating was below par, as head acceleration in child dummies was high enough to pose a serious threat. The crash tests were carried out on a 1997 model of the Mitsubishi Lancer which was equipped with driver's airbag and pre-tensioned seat-belts.

Hindustan Motors, the Indian manufacturers of the Lancer, currently offer no active safety features on their current range of Lancers.

Suzuki's new hot hatch, the Swift is indeed a little genius. It earned 4 stars in the passenger occupant rating, 3 in the child occupant rating and, hold your breath, 3 in the pedestrian rating. It missed 5 stars due to the marginal levels of force on the driver's chest in the front impact and the loads recorded for the driver's right lower leg.

The seat-mounted side airbags and head curtain airbag were impressive in the side impact test, as it also protected passengers in the rear. The well designed front bumper protected the pedestrian dummy well.

The Suzuki Swift is the only car that is almost a clone to its European sister. The only safety feature missing on the Indian version are side and curtain airbags, while ABS with EBD is available on top models. Decent job, Suzuki.

The Hyundai Elantra did not go down too well with the testers. At 3 stars for adult occupant rating, the airbag and the seat-belts did not protect the dummies too well. They also risked knee and leg injuries as the floor distorted and moved the seat. Seat-belts slackened, causing head and chest injuries to the driver.

The child occupant rating suffered as the child restraints did not hold. Also, the presence of a front passenger airbag with no option to disable it could prove harmful for the child. Still the Elantra is one of the few cars built in India which is fully loaded with safety features. So here's a good reason to buy one.

The Skoda Octavia was top notch in the tests. The Octavia offers front airbags as well as side airbags, which explains the high adult occupancy rating. Head protecting curtain airbags are available at an extra cost. The Octavia just fell short of 3 stars in the pedestrian rating.

The child occupancy rating was at 4, thanks to the incorporation of Isofix anchorage points and the option to switch off the frontal passenger airbag. These tests