good motoring
Of seatbelts and child locks
H. Kishie Singh

There was a frightening news item recently. A small car Hyundai i10 was rear-ended by a behemoth Ford Endeavour. The i10 doors flew open and a three-year girl old fell out of the car. The collision happened on the Zirakpur flyover and after being flung out of the car, the little girl fell off the flyover on to the street below. There are lessons to be learnt. Doors on cars these days are designed to stay closed and cocoon the passenger in case of a crash. The inference is the door was not properly closed. When a door closes there are two clicks, indicating a double lock. This was not the case here. So it flew open.

As we often observe, a mother is sitting in the front seat, with the seatbelt on and a child is sitting in the mother's lap. For sure, the child will go flying out of the car, in case the door opens. Had there been an airbag, it would have caused serious injury to the infant. There was no airbag, no seatbelt, an improperly closed door. As a result, the three-year-old was thrown out. In most countries where lives are considered important and rules are followed, children below eight years are not allowed in the front seat. Infants in the rear seat must be in child-seats. Older children in the rear must wear seat belts. Jaspal Bhatti would be alive today had he been wearing a seatbelt. He was in the rear seat.

Child lock

Do you know what a "child lock" is? No? Then ou have not read the owners manual or bothered to read the sticker on the rear door jamb. There is a small lever on the inside of the rear door jamb and it is marked "child lock". All you have to do is move it a couple of millimeters and the rear doors cannot be opened from the inside. Children by nature are naughty. They get bored easily. They become fidgety. To amuse themselves, they will press buttons, pull the door open lever and fall out. The manufacturer is aware of all this, hence the child locks. Familiarise yourself with this safety feature. It could save a life, your child’s. It emerges from this accident that the railings on the fly-over are inadequate in an emergency, like protecting a human body from going under the railing/guard rail.

Misusing flyover

We have a tremendous propensity to misuse, disuse and abuse everything. The long route buses used to stop at the Zirakpur Chowk. That was banned. So the buses stop on the flyover. That's right, ON a high speed flyover. This means pedestrians on the flyover. The 'raison d'etre' for the flyover is defeated. The guard rails should be double duty, to prevent vehicles plus human bodies from going over or under.

The centre median also needs a re-think. It is too narrow and too low. Even a car with 13-inch tyres, at speed, will cross over and into oncoming traffic. There must be double-guard rails in the centre to prevent a cross over. Most SUVs have 15-inch or 16-inch tyres. Trucks and buses have 20-inch tyres or larger. They can cross the centre median with ease. The outcome will be a disaster. Here is yet another example of poor design or the contractor cutting costs. He may have saved money but this will cost lives.

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