Road accidents: Poor safety features, light car design cause for concern

Hyderabad: In the case of accidents it is also the type of car that determines the safety of passengers.

With most modern vehicles being light, their safety features are often debatable. Mechanical engineer K. Chaitanya said, “Small vehicles are light in nature. They are meant for driving at nominal speeds in the city but often these cars are driven too fast and sometimes turn turtle. The impact on the passengers is tremendous as they get thrown out or are jostled by the crushing metal. There are no balloon features or other aspects in the car. The car owners do not even ask for it while purchasing.”

A senior Road Transport officer said, “Vehicles are often constructed of light material and the designs are purely aesthetic in nature. Safety features are very limited and the Indian consumer does not ask for safety features. A very few companies have come forward with balloons but even that is limited.”

People are now freely taking small and medium sized cars, meant for city driving, on the highways and the Ring Road.

Dr Ravi Kumar said, “There is no control over speed. While learning to drive, the ills of speeding are not even explained by the Road Transport Authorities. There are too many faults within the system and these require to be capped. The drivers need to be well-informed and educated regarding speeding and its impact on them as well as on passengers and pedestrians.”