Safe and sound

Simple and effective automotive technology that can save lives.

Let's face it. Safety is boring. It may save lives, but it's not exactly exciting to read about.

To be frank, even though I am a motoring journalist and I do give an emphasis on safety features in a car during evaluation, it still is not too terribly enjoyable to dwell on. But we all agree on the fact that it is extremely important and absolutely vital.

Why then don't we get cars with the full panoply of both active and passive safety equipment? One, cost is really a big constraint, and two, in our country, we don't have adequate laws governing what safety equipment a car should feature, other than seatbelts... and er, headlamp level adjusters.

These are the two main reasons why car manufacturers can get away with not giving us active safety features that are compulsory in the same models sold abroad.

So what's the route in front of us, till the time legislation is amended? And of course, till the time government levies, taxes and duties are rationalised, so that cars can become affordable, which in turn will allow manufacturers to offer safety equipment without making their cars too expensive? The answer is simply to buy the option that comes with all the safety features.

Easier said than done, right? While there can be no price that can be attached to saving a life, it is a given that we have a budget that governs our purchase decisions. It is easy if you are a luxury car buyer, since all luxury cars in the country come with comprehensive safety kit as standard (And I dare say that it's more expensive for a luxury carmaker to actually de-spec a car and remove features from their models!).

But now finally in our country, cars down the line come with safety features like ABS and airbags, at least as an option. It took a long time coming, but I am glad to say that it's finally happening. So if it does not dent your EMI payouts too much, it is prudent to tick on the safety features on the options list.

Because it's only when manufacturers are encouraged by the car buying public that their model with the safety features is the one that's selling that we will all benefit.

But the sad truth is that the safest variant in the carmaker's model lineup is the one with the least sales. Want an example? The Suzuki Swift ZXi, which comes with ABS and airbags, was very popular during launch, but now forms not more than a discouraging five per cent of total Swift sales. It's a fact that it's not exactly a cheap option, but at least Maruti Suzuki can say that though we're offering it, it's just too bad that customers don't want it.

So the onus still rests on us, the car buying public, who must understand how safety systems work in an automobile and how they can save lives.

Mass awareness will lead to action eventually, and will force the hands of the government, law makers and the bureaucracy, and of course the carmakers, to make active and safety equipment as standard in the automobiles we buy.
So it's time to learn some stuff, right?

There's where this story actually begins. Bosch is the world's largest automotive equipment supplier, and have been at the forefront of automotive technology for over 100 years now. They have pioneered a host of safety innovations that we see in most cars nowadays.

To showcase their technology, Bosch invited Business Standard Motoring to their massive Boxberg Proving Grounds in Germany, where they had lined up different innovations that make cars safer. I had the opportunity to simulate manoeuvres in a controlled environment, manoeuvres that showed a startling difference in the way cars equipped with safety kit and those without, behaved.

I always drive rather safely, so I have not exactly had the opportunity to conduct some of those manoeuvres in real life "" which is why it was a revelation in the way these high-tech but elegantly simple safety systems worked towards saving lives. Here are but a few of them that I sampled.

Predictive Safety Systems
Ignore the Opel Zafira in the lead picture, it's just there for support. Assume you are driving the BMW and the object in front of it is a real car. Without any warning, the car in front stops abruptly.

Now if you are not paying attention or are not quick, a crash is inevitable. So how can electronics help in alleviating the situation? A radar placed in the front of the car is always evaluating the situation around. If it senses an object is too close, it can do several things.

In Predictive Collision Warning mode (PCW), it can start by giving you an audible warning so that you either brake or steer your way out. Even if this does not help, it moves on to Predictive Brake Assist (PBA), which actually preps the car up for braking in a hurry.

Suppose your braking input is not effective enough, the system gets into the Extended Brake Assist (XBA) mode, which multiplies your braking input, and later added to Predictive Emergency Braking (PEB), applies immediate automatic emergency braking. Phew!

Anti-lock Braking System
A simple demonstration. One half of the track is dry tarmac, and the other is a smooth, tiled section that's wet. The specially prepared demo S-Class carries decent speeds into the section with one half on the dry bit and the other on the wet.

Assuming you need to brake suddenly, you slam on the brakes. And the vehicle loses traction and spins wildly out of control, it just goes round and round and stops... or in real life, hits an immovable barrier, which I'm sorry to say this, may kill you. And the same car with ABS allows you to control and steer the car out of trouble without losing its intended trajectory. Not just that, it reduces the braking distance also substantially.

Basically, what the system does is that it detects the tendency of one or more wheels to lock early on and actually reduces the brake pressure on it. This is repeated in some point-milliseconds and prevents the wheels from locking up.

In turn, it allows you control over the steering wheel and you can manoeuvre your way out. Bosch has been manufacturing ABS systems since 1978, and the latest generation ABS system is now easier to install in the car and is more powerful and effective too.  Click here to see a video of the car spinning without ABS

Electronic Stability Programme
While ABS and traction control systems affect the longitudinal forces of the car, what about lateral dynamics? Here's where ESP comes in, which prevents you from skidding and wrapping your car around a tree.

The system is pretty intelligent, it figures out your intended trajectory through the steering angle, while wheel speed sensors measure each wheel's velocity. Wait, there's more. The yaw rate sensor measures the lateral dynamics, that is, around the car's vertical axis. And finally, a control unit evaluates all these and compares the actual driving direction to the steering direction.

Let's say you are too fast on a curve for your own good and the car threatens to shift to the other side. By now, it's likely that without ESP, you would be in front of a vehicle in the opposite direction or are on your way to wrapping the car around that omnipresent light pole.

If your car had ESP, it wouldn't happen. Since the system is evaluating the vehicle dynamics, it generates individual braking forces at each wheel. So if your car's stepping out while you are on a curve, it brakes the front wheel on the outside of the curve and actually tucks the car back in.

I experienced this in one of Bosch's specially prepared Smart ForFour. Imagining the ubiquitous cow magically appearing in front of me (the cow was represented by red pylons), without slamming on the brakes, I manoeuvred my way out and instead of the car actually getting on the wrong lane, it physically tucked me back in based on my steering inputs. Awesome!

I also experienced the Side View Assist in which an ultrasonic sensor overcomes the blind spots for a driver and even the Object Vision Collision Mitigation System, which can detect and measure objects suddenly appearing in your lane like pedestrians, cyclists, etc and reacts by warning you and helps you brake better.

Eventually they will make their way into cars you and I drive. Till then, understand, be aware, and of course, drive safely.