Bag that!

LET'S TORQUE

Do airbags work? Well, they sure do. Otherwise I wouldn't be penning what you are reading now. A few weeks back at the Raid De Himalaya 2006, I drove a rally car off a cliff in the foothills of the Himalayas when a child ran across the road. I swerved to avoid the child, but didn't have any time at all to control the inevitable.

The car plunged down 50 feet, nose first, and tumbled down another 100 feet before it stopped. And we "" as in my navigator and I "" walked out of the wreck without even a scratch.

Sure, I do believe in the prayers of those who are close to me even more now, but there is no denying the fact that it was the passive and active safety features of the Suzuki Swift ZXi that saved our lives.

To begin with, the car absorbed the impact well, the seat-belts and the neck restraints (no, don't call them headrests) did their job of holding us firm on the seats and the airbags ensured that our respective upper bodies did not continue to travel (thereby causing what could have been terrible damage) when the car hit its nose first.

Then the sturdy body took the roll in its stride and we were surprised to note that the thick A-pillars "" which we often criticise for obstructing the view "" did not cave in... that could have caused severe head injuries too.

There were only three cars in the Reliability Trial class of the Raid De Himalaya 2006 with airbags, and let me tell you that I was lucky to be driving one. The moral of the story: spend that additional bit on safety equipment. You may live to tell the tale.

bijoy@business-standard.com