@mgalaxy3. , I wrote something on PAKWHEEL community group and will share here ALTHOUGH it's not related to subject matter but in reference to ongoing discussion with @Xulfiqar bhai. Crumble zone will be there BUT how well they are built together needs attention. Anyways , copy-pasting it here.
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Q: How safe is your car ?
A: I DON'T know & why the hell I need to know.
I was at an auto show last year and came across a display and will share pictures for readers. Normally you dont see a crashed car on an auto show BUT this was one of the most important visual. An actual vehicle crash tested was displayed. It's completely disaster looking at it BUT the vehicle is placed into the highest ranking for one of the safest vehicle in its class. I will include the frontal crash test from IIHS for reference.
Stronger the structure, safer the car is a very common misconception as far as car designs. Normally after crash we make an opinion that how much damage the body of a vehicle got and make an assumption about its safety, but it's not the entire reality. Over last 15 to 20 years the car design has seen a very advanced research and development and the idea is to make car safer for the occupants in case of car crash. The priority is to keep occupants safer rather keeping body of the car safe. There is a lot more physics and metallurgy involved so we can't dive deep into that because we all don’t like physics.
Introduction of newer car frame design in shape of crash absorbing or crumple zones as we call it , use of high strength steel for occupants compartment at key locations along with safety features like seat belts, air bags have made today's cars more safer. Crumple zones at front and rear of the car are provided so that in case of a crash the forces don’t travel directly into the cabin rather are absorbed as much as possible in the shortest possible area which is the front end, from bumper till A pillar and from bumper till C pillar in case of rear end. Take it like throwing a brick on your foot with a pillow in between.
Again its highly advanced science and we can’t discuss here in a Facebook post but in simple words, stopping the forces as away from occupants as possible is the main idea. Obviously as driver we all should know that these safety feature dont give us license to drive crazy and careless.
The implementation of the design from the software to hardware of this science matters a lot as well. Means how well all the parts are welded and connected. An improper weld or bolt can ruin the safety and here comes the quality control. After all these design and implementation in shape of a product and which is a vehicle in our case, comes the testing and that is crash testing. Engineers and researches have a set standard and the vehicles are tested in that test and then evaluated. After the test data from dozens of highly sophisticated sensors is checked and the visual inspection is made for every inch of the vehicle.
How well a vehicle perform in a standard test procedure like front, side, roof, pole test ; tells us how safe a car is comparing another car and tells us about its overall safety. Crash test is same like an annual exam where all students comes prepared for the same exam with same question paper, some excel, some are mediocre and some fail. Internationally car makers not only try to meet the minimum required standard but also go further and add additional safety features to the vehicle [ not required by law ] to make them stand out among the competition. Read about side impacts here > https://www.facebook.com/groups/805503636213888?view=permalink&id=2729027503861482
Unfortunately, in Pakistan, we have complete lack of check and balance. Poor quality control, poor workmanship , old school assembly procedure are still very common. A brand new car comes with questionable structural integrity as well as overall low safety equipment or complete ZERO safety equipment at all. Beside that there is no independent agency who can evaluate and test how well these cars are put together locally and how well the available safety equipment perform. If we dig deep, we dont know how good are raw materials, sheet metal and other steel and chassis and as there is no testing, God knows.
Yes Civic, and Corolla and for that matter Kia Sportage are flagship models by local car assemblers BUT comes with unfortunately only 2 air bags but that is NOT enough. Also who knows how well the frames and important components are put together as far as chassis. No wonder our cars starts making noises from here and there after few months on the road. I dont want to talk about the super Suzuki and their products because they are notorious of another level and they are never born with a safety DNA in mind. Vehicle stability control , ABS which are enforced as standard all over the world, seems still an option or not available at all.
Our public gets more impressed with Shark-fun-teena, LED headlight , tail lights, navigation, sunroof and other "shahskay".. but no one bothers about underlying issues and questions. Public is happy, there is a BRAVO and PRUNCE with alloy wheels, AC and a LCD and so on, but no one talks about how safe it is. In fact talking about any car on these lines means committing automotive blasphemy and you will be labeled paid agent and doing propaganda.
I have no doubt in saying that a Pakistan assembled Corolla, Civic which are flagship models will fail in any international NHTSA, IIHS ,NCAP or any other crash test protocol, not only because of lower standard safety equipment but as well as workmanship. Lets not talk about other models as its just waste of time.
There is no local crash testing or crash rating by government or independent agency and the manufacturer can play around with humans and keep on minting profits without looking into this serious matter. How we can say our cars are as good as any other overseas? there is no testing and verification and no one even bothers, even neither the buyers. This is extremely disappointing. All Pakistan assembled cars will fail any international crash testing protocol because first they don’t meet the minimum requirements of safety features and equipment and secondly the built quality itself is of great concern..
We are seeing an auto policy for inviting more car companies to invest but we don't have any mandated minimum saefty as per international level and we are paying high prices for our cars. It’s time government take this matter seriously and enforce and mandate the local car makers/ assemblers to follow minimum safety as required by International standards and Side/ curtain airbags are one of it beside frontal airbags as well as vehicle stability control, ABS .
New companies coming into Pakistan and it’s a good sign BUT I would prefer quality of product over quantity. Government need to establish an independent testing agency with experts in the field who can verify the quality and safety of locally assembled vehicles. It's car companies responsibility to develop safer cars BUT its duty of government agencies to test them, rate them and qualify it for sale.
Looks like Our Safety is not at all THEIR passion.
[f-w @Pakwheels.com]
