SafetySpeak!

Road and Traffic Safety Newsletter

Expressways may be fast and convenient,

but they are not particularly safe
2

Volume 9, No. 2

April 2014

When vehicles treat people like cattle, the

Is safety a major consideration in your new car
consequences can be severe for us all
3 choices?
4

e in peoples
From the Editors Desk
ity to make a real differenc
ch company is the opportun

safety resear
en wellbeing on Indias
ring the elements that threat
sha
d
an
g
erin
cov
dis
to
ted
ica
road accident data that
lives. JP Research India is ded
informed by just the sort of
s
icle
art
g
nin
-ope
eye
ee
thr
al crashes on
present
an unexpected number of fat
roads, and in this issue, we
ws
sho
y
onl
not
ta
da
sh
. In the first, cra
JPRI collects and analyzes
influencing many of these.
t the roadways themselves are
tha
es
ish
abl
est
it
s,
ay
sw
expres
roads with
s pose to those that share the
icle
veh
ted
un
mo
rl-ba
bul
ies since
ts the dangers
documented in most countr
ng
bei
The second article highligh
now
y
onl
is
te
era
t these grill guards gen
findings will surprise
them. The level of injury tha
crash reports. We think the
in
ed
not
lly
ica
cif
spe
not
tion efforts that
s often
noted in its own data collec
the presence of a bull bar wa
has
I
JPR
ue
iss
ess
hin
ort
vehicle crashw
you. Finally, we report on a
h controlled crash testing.
oug
thr
has now been borne out
other route? Or
re hazardous than using an
mo
be
ld
cou
ay
sw
res
exp
good crash
t taking the
is the amazing thing about
at
Th
Who would have guessed tha
m?
the
ind
beh
ted
sea
erous even for those
ulators where more work
that bull bars could be dang
chers, manufacturers and reg
ear
res
ws
sho
d
an
ow
kn
didnt
datait tells you what you
.
ded
nee
are
ons
and better soluti

One of the joys of running a

Jeya

SafetySpeak! is a publication of JP Research India Pvt. Ltd.

Number of accidents investigated to date by JP Research India as part of our

India traffic studies: 3,000+ (RASSI-Qualified: 1,035)

SafetySpeak!

Volume 9, No. 2

Expressway, Not the Best Way . . . Yet?

India has over 4,236,000 kilometers of roadwaysthe
third largest road network in the worldand with these roads
comes a correspondingly high exposure to traffic injuries and
fatalities, a fact that we have covered in numerous papers and
newsletters. According to road crash fatality data published by
the National Crime Records Bureau, 139,091 fatalities were
reported due to road accidents in 2012.
Such a high fatality rate is reason enough for concern, but if
you drive one or more of Indias expressways, the news is
even grimmer. Expressways, which comprise only 0.02% of
Indias total road network, account for a disproportionately
high number of its traffic fatalities.
Take the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, for example. In 2012,
55 fatalities were reported on this road. That figure may not
seem huge, but this stretch is only 28 kilometers long; that
results in an average of 2 fatalities per kilometer. As of
September 2013, there had been 67 deaths on the same
stretch, so the average for 2013 will be even higher.
Similarly, 118 fatalities were reported on the 94-kilometerlong Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 2011, resulting in an
average of 1.25 fatalities per kilometer. And newer does not
mean safer. At least two serious accidents take place a week
on the Yamuna Expressway, which opened just a year ago.

Faster, but Not Safer

Expressways are the fastest class of roads in India, and they
should be among the safest. They have controlled-access points
and are restricted to fast modern vehicles. There are no markets
along the roadsides and no traffic lights to interrupt traffic flow.
With few entrances/exits, no pedestrians or bicycles, no cross
traffic, well-kept roadways, and high speed limits, these super
freeways can significantly reduce the travel time between two
points. But even with all of these features, safety has still not
found its way onto these luxurious roadways.
Road users on expressways, which many suppose to be safest
way to drive, are instead more vulnerable to fatal crashes than
those on other roads. Unless some fundamental safety issues are
addressed, it seems likely the death tolls will increase as more of
these roads are built and used.

What Makes Expressways So Dangerous?

The most common reasons given for accidents on high-speed
expressways are over-speeding and tire failure, but the high
numbers of serious and fatal expressway accidents are not due to
human and vehicle factors alone. As we have reported before, our
crash data shows that road design plays a significant role. While it
is important to address reckless driving and ensure vehicles do
not pose undue risks to road users, JPRIs ongoing studies suggest
there are many ways to make the roadways themselves safer. It is
time to take positive steps to change the fatality and injury record on these showcase
expressways to ensure they are as safe as they are convenient.
- Ajay Patel

Page 2

Volume 9, No. 2

SafetySpeak!

Page 3

No Bull, These Bars Are Bad News

It is not uncommon these days to find a shiny new car with flashing bull
bars mounted at the front grilldeep in a snarl of city traffic and a world away
from the dangers its beefed-up bumper system was designed to guard against.
The original goal of bull bars was to If this was just a matter of fashion, or yet another way to display wealth, it
protect a vehicle from massive damage in would hardly be a matter for these pages. Unfortunately, however, accident and
crash test data both indicate bull bars are a growing safety threat on our roads.
collisions with large animals. However,
the only animals that urban wranglers
As its various names suggest, bull bars (roo bars, grill guards) are designed to
are likely to hit generally dont weigh
be mounted on rural vehicles as a protection from animal impact. In areas
enough to stop anything but the drivers where the animals are large and help may be far away and slow to arrive, it
heart.
makes sense to be protective. In fact, the design originated in the Australian
Outback for just this purpose (kangaroos are BIG). However, the bars have
increasingly become more a bit of bling than a practical piece of equipment.

These bars dont bend easily,

but people do.

Aggressive hunks of formed metal do add a sturdy look to a car, and they are
very popular with the SUV crowd, but when brought to the cities, this eye
candy carries with it some serious hazards.

Protection or Danger?

The pedestrians, bicyclists and

motorcyclists that have the misfortune to
be impacted by these dangerous
decorations typically experience injury
severities well out of proportion to the
speed of the collision. And that this is
true is not exactly news.
As far back as 1995, a German (BASt)
crash test study concluded that the risk
of injury to a child hit by a bull-barmounted vehicle at 20 km/h is
comparable to that of being impacted by
a regular (i.e., unadorned) car at 40 km/
h. For adults, the risk of damage to the
hips and lower limbs from a 25 km/h
impact with a bull bar is comparable to
that of being struck by the bonnet of a
regular car at 40 km/h.
According to the Royal Automobile Club
of Victoria (RACV), in 2001, 32% of the
fatalities on Australian roads were
vulnerable road users: pedestrians
(20%), motorcyclists (10%), or bicyclists
(2%). A bull bar presents a rigid point of
resistance that concentrates crash forces
in a smaller area, increasing the
likelihood of severe injury to those
directly hit. As the RACV warns, bullbars can significantly increase the risk of
head, thorax and stomach injuries to
pedestrians and other unprotected road
users when they are struck by the front
of such a bull-bar-equipped vehicle.

Bull bars are generally made of steel, aluminum or polycarbonate. Such

materials lack the energy-absorbing capacity that is essential for a car in an
urban environment. Not only can such rigidly designed bull bars cause serious
and fatal injuries, even at average travelling speeds, to those impacted directly
by them, but they also increase risks for those who have them on their vehicles.
Numerous studies of pedestrian and bicycle collisions with bull-bar-mounted
vehicles show alarming injury trends [see sidebar]. In India, unprotected road
users account for a high percentage of traffic, making bull bars especially lethal.
Bull bars are also dangerous in collisions with other vehicles. They can affect
the crumpling ability of the vehicle they are mounted on. As the bars do not
deform as rapidly as the crumple zone behind it was designed to, the vehicle
itself does not absorb crash energy as intended. This extra energy has to be
absorbed by the other vehicle, which increases the likelihood of severe damage
to the struck vehicle and of serious injury for its occupants.
Aftermarket bull bars can also interfere with the airbags of the bar-mounted
vehicle by misfiring them. Airbags are carefully designed to fire at a specific
point of contact, and a tiny difference in triggering may make them all but
useless for protection. In fact, misfired bags can themselves cause injury to the
occupants they were meant to protect.

Solutions
One solution to the hazards posed by bull bars is to make them illegal, or highly
restricted, as is the case in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand.
Other solutions are to make them integral to the vehicle (picture below) and to
use more forgiving materials (e.g., aluminum tubing is safer than solid steel),
and there is research ongoing in these and related areas [see Endnote].
Understandably, if you drive in remote areas, you do not want the front-end of
your vehicle destroyed and yourself stranded or injured due to an animal
encounter, but if this is your main concern,
make sure that the bars have no sharp
edges, are not wider than the vehicle, are
not excessively rigid, and do not protrude
far in front. You might also want to avoid
traffic and people. There is nothing wrong
with making a vehicle attractive, but it
should not be at the cost of someones life.

- Boopathi Raja

SafetySpeak!

Volume 9, No. 2

Page 4

How Much is Great Mileage Really Worth?

Cars come in myriad shapes, sizes, color and price ranges, and for a
prospective buyer there are ample options to choose from. With such richness
of choice, it boils down to priorities. So what drives the drive to drive a
specific car? Is it safety? Fuel economy? Capacity? The pleasure of the driving
experience? While needs and preferences will vary, for most the basic
decision making follows a predictable pattern.
As an Indian, I am a citizen of a developing country at a time when that
development, particularly with regard to cars as a means of transport, has hit
fast forward. Cars are not just a luxury anymore; they are becoming an
essential part of life. To own an ultra-luxury car is the dream of many, but to
an average working citizen of any developing country, a compact car is the
practicality. There are multiple reasons for this, but is safety one of them?

Indian Cars Fail the Crash

In India there are no stringent vehicle
safety requirements or tests for
manufacturers to prove a vehicles
crashworthiness. The consequences of
this regulatory failure became
apparent early this year when the
results of Global NCAP tests conducted
on Indian vehicles were made public.

Deciding on a New Car

I am currently contemplating various options for upgrading from my loyal (if
comfort-challenged) two-wheeler. With fuel prices rocketing, fuel
efficiency comes first to mind. In addition, with a small family, my
preference is for a trim little car to meet both present and future needs.
Clearly, operating costs and convenience are leading me, and many others, to
opt for a compact car. Compact cars are more flexible in traffic, consume less
fuel, and are a practical replacement for two-wheelers. And almost any choice
would be safer than my two-wheeler, right? After all, data clearly
shows two wheelers are the most vulnerable users on our roads
(particularly given the feeling-air-on-my-hair attitude of most
Indian riders).
But when I dream of trips Id take with my family, suddenly, I
expect greater assurance than simply a car that offers more
protection than a two-wheeler. What happens if, by some ill fate, I
meet with an accident? A little research reveals that many bestselling Indian-made cars failed in well-established crash tests
designed to reflect real world conditionsconditions that years of
accident data have shown indisputably to be deadly. [See sidebar on
Global New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) tests of Indian cars.]
The concerned parties claim the failed cars meet all required
minimum safety regulations set by the Indian Government, but the test
results demonstrate that the cars are not crashworthy. While manufacturers
are keen to provide comfort and economy to meet market demands, the
safety findings suggest they have set a low bar for safety (and that vehicular
safety regulations set in India may need some revision).

Make Safety Part of The Decision

There is a saying in English: Be careful what you wish for, for you may get it!
Weve been asking for comfort and economy, and we now have it, but is
this at the cost of safety? With their multifaceted benefits, low-cost and fuelefficient compact cars are in demand, and manufacturers are fighting it out
for market shares. Now is the time to shift our focus towards making cars as
safe as they are affordable. If more people demand and choose safer cars and
insist that safety features such as airbags and rear seatbelts be included as
standard equipment (as they are in the UK and the US), the prices are bound
to come down and the safety options will increase.
As Mahatma Gandhis words instruct, I will be the change I wish to see in
this world. I will opt for safety over saving money. I have made my decision,
and I hope others will make the same. Lets push together for
safer cars today to make way for a better (and safer) tomorrow. - A Yuvaraj

JPRI crash teams have come across

numerous high injury severity accidents
involving small cars. Our accident data
supports the Global NCAP test findings
that many of the compact cars on
Indias roads are not safe enough.
The Global NCAP tests showed that
many of the popular small cars tested
failed miserably, with extensive
damage that would have led to lifethreatening injuries. Although the VW
Polo showed greatly improved ratings
when a version with frontal airbags
was tested, the Suzuki-Maruti Alto
800, Tata Nano and Hyundai i10
demonstrated such extensive
structural weakness that airbags would
not have effectively reduced the risk of
serious injury or fatality.

Volume 9, No. 2

SafetySpeak!

Page 5

JPRI Events
The Fourth Annual RASSI
Consortium Meeting took
place on March 21st at Pune,
with representatives from
members Bosch, Daimler,
Hyundai, Nissan, Renault,
and JP Research-USA
attending. The focus was on
the great strides made in
data collection and in
developing methodologies
for causation analyses and
data extrapolation. In
addition, it was announced
that a new RASSI data
collection site is being
opened up, by invitation of
the Transport
Commissioner, in
Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

4th Annual RASSI Consortium Meeting - Pune

Top: RASSI Consortium Annual Meeting, attendees. For more on the meeting and on what JPR-USA
and JPRI are up to these days, see the interactive article and interview with Jeya Padmanaban in the
1April 2014 issue of Autocar Professional.

JPRI Enters into a Partnership to

Provide PC-Crash & PC-Rect Training
JPRI and the company Dr. Steffan Datentechnik (DSD) have inked an
agreement authorizing JPRI as official DSD trainers and sales partners for
PC-Crash and PC-Rect in India. This has meant advanced training for JPRI
crash reconstructionists on the nuances of using PC-Crash and PC-Rect
software in reconstructing complex India-specific accidents.

During recent training by Dr. Martin Lukasik [[top, right],

DSD founder Dr. Hermann Steffan [top, left] stopped by to
share his knowledge and expertise, spending a day with
the researchers. [The whole team is pictured at left.]

JPRI Opens New Crash Investigation Training & Development Services

JPRI has begun to provide Training and
Development Services to private companies in crash
investigation techniques and in the use of PC-Crash and
PC-Rect software for modeling and reconstructing
crash scenarios.

Our first client for the new

training service was ITC Limited in March [photo,
above]. That training was led by Ramesh, CT and
Santhosh. [Training team is pictured at right.]

Volume 9, No. 2

SafetySpeak!

ENDNOTE

Page 6

SafetySpeak!
____________________

Pedestrian-Friendly Designs, for All of Us

Editor in Chief:

The effect of vehicle impacts on pedestrians and other unprotected road

users is getting more attention as the car becomes an increasing presence on
the worlds roads. Plastic hood elements, rounded frontend designs, airbags
that lift hoods to absorb pedestrian/cyclist impacts, and airbags that protect
those outside the vehicle are all in design and test phases as automakers look
for new ways to increase safety for those outside the vehicle.
Pop Goes the Hood
Volvos pedestrian-friendly solution to hard impacts against windshields and a
barely-covered solid engine mass is a detection system that anticipates the
impact, pops the hood and releases an exterior airbag. And surprisethis one
is already on the market!

Jeya Padmanaban,
President, JP Research Inc.
JP Research Editors / Writers:
M. Bhuvanesh Bharath Alwar (India)
Sheryl Siebenborn (USA)
Ravishankar Rajaraman (India)
____________________

MISSION STATEMENT
To mitigate accidents and injuries to
road users in India by helping local
automotive safety organizations,
government agencies, and
manufacturers through accident and
safety research and training, and
creating public awareness of traffic
safety issues.
____________________

CONTACT US
JP Research India Pvt. Ltd.
583/1, 1st Floor, Sri Kumaran Salai
Civil Aerodrome Post, Avinashi Road

Poof!
In the future, multivehicle road accidents
may look like a spilled
bag of marshmallows, at
least in the initial
minutes after contact as
every vehicle releases
an exterior airbag
activated by sensors.
These same sensors will
deploy for pedestrians
and cyclists as well. At
right is a TRW design.
Rubber Buggy Bumpers
Replacing angular, unforgiving bull bars with rounded, energy-absorbing
alternatives may not only reduce the severity of injuries for pedestrians but for
vehicle occupants as well. Various designs have been tested, although neartotal bans on the devices in many countries may slow interest in production.

Coimbatore 641 014, Tamil Nadu, India

Phone: +91-422-440-0100
reachus@jpresearchindia.com
www.jpresearchindia.com
____________________
JP Research India Pvt. Ltd. 2014
The name SafetySpeak! and distinctive
design and logo features of this
publication are the exclusive property
of JPR India, and all contents are
protected by copyright. Technical
articles may be reproduced, in whole
or in part, ONLY with full attribution
and written notification to:

reachus@jpresearchindia.com