"Burning Cars": A Burning Issue !

Road Traffic Digest No. 8

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"Burning Cars": A new kind of accident !
Th|s new k|nd of acc|dent |s be|ng not|ced more frequent|y these days
|.e. cars are catch|ng f|re sudden|y w|thout be|ng crashed. |n many such
cases cars get permanent|y |ocked, not g|v|ng any chance to occupants
to escape, but to be burned a||ve.
rd 8eptember,
, 0ELh|
A years o|d man burns
to death after h|s A|to car
sudden|y caught f|re, d|es
strugg||ng to get out. he
was to become father soon.

th
8eptember
, ACRA,
8corp|o 6atches f|re
th 8eptember,
, 0ELh|, Nano
catches f|re
&$T A FEW DAY$ AGO !
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InsIdc a car thc spacc Is vcry sma!! and It Is fu!! nf
p!astIcs, rubbcr and fnam takIng nn tImc tn catch fIrc and
char thc bndy nf Its nccupants bcynnd rccngnItInn !
Besides a direct in]ury by flames [heat can go as high as
15000 F_, the smoke and toxic fumes are equally lethal
especially the carbon monoxide that is produced from
synthetic material which is colourless, odourless so
escape our attention.
80HE FA6T8: These f|re acc|dents have been seen |n:
Cars ol a|| s|ze or segrerls [sra||, r|d & o|g| ard ever |roWr lo occur
|r |uxury cars ard 3uvs
Cars ol a|| corpar|es |rc|ud|rg |rlerral|ora| ore
Cars ol oolr ||qu|d[pelro| & d|ese|| ard gas dr|ver
las oeer seer |r orard reW cars
A Mercedes Benz Burns Beyond
Recognition on the Mumbai-
Pune Expressway
A new Nano car
A Harut| car caught f|re
near 6|v|| hosp|ta| |n
Curgaon
|nd|go caught f|re near
Pragat| Ha|dan
6ar catches f|re |n
Creater No|da
Ex-cop d|es as h|s Harut| Zen
burst |nto f|ames near Roh|n|
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Why are these cars catching fire in recent times ??
ls rnere any reporr ol some oll|o|a| enqu|ry or lorens|o sruoy
over rn|s pnenomenon |n lno|a ??
Why is that these incidents that were rare a few years
ago, have become very common these days ??
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WhcI Ihe:e cgencie: cre wciIing fcr:
Are they wa|t|ng for some more such trag|c deaths to qua||fy for a 's|gn|f|cant
number'. Though on an average |n |nd|a one such |nc|dent |s occurr|ng
everyday !
0r wa|t|ng for some k|nd of pub||c ag|tat|on on roads
0r wa|t|ng for some P|L
0r wa|t|ng for |t to happen to some V|P
Even the med|a, that |s supposed to be the very act|ve |nvest|gat|ng
agency these days has not exp|ored th|s phenomenon beyond show|ng some
'exce||ent footages' !
%ill now we are not aware of any such proper enquiry
from government, automobile associations, automobile
companies or manufacturers, NGO, etc that has been
conducted or is pending.
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Hcrc wc arc noi irying io jum io any conclusions
lui ccriainly ccci a rocr cnquiry on an urgcni
lasis so iIai wc can rcvcni sucI iragic
incidcnis/dcaiIs in fuiurc.
We are sharing some queries and suggestions with
you here - - -
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Gas based Vs liquid[diesel/petrol] based vehicles
AlLhough gus-bused vehlcles huve been found Lo be equully sufe
us LhuL of eLrol or dlesel ones, lL ls u muLLer of lnvesLlguLlon
wletlet tl|s |s ttoe |o cases of acc|Jeots also? Are Lhe gus-bused
vehlcles more rone Lo cuLchlng flre uL Lhe Llme of un uccldenL?
Some belleve LhuL eLrol ls noL under ressure und Lukes
Llme Lo come ouL Lo geL collecLed ln slgnlflcunL umounL Lo cuLch
flre und secondly lL remulns conflned Lo Lhe ureu of leuk only for
qulLe some Llme.
While the cs is under pressure so it tcles no time to
come out cnd sprecd oter c lcre sphere [cs ue see in
cccidents uith coolin cs in home].
uery No.
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ls it a side-effect of many extra luxury features to cars?
More Ieutores meun more electric circoits or wiring
i.e. more chunces oI short circoiting.
1n such situotion ue ore compelled to think uhether
the neuer technologicol oddition is reollg o boon or o
bone.
These automatic devices or electric circuits are not made by
automobile co. instead ordered from other Co. But, we don`t
know whether these are ordered from standard or reliable
companies? Due to price war` in the market, are these auto Co.
compromising on such accessory items?
uery No. z
re they EQU common in developed countries?
1here are many international automobile companies in
India that are manufacturing cars for developed counties as well.
Since these incidents are also known to occur in developed
countries so we would like to know are these incidents occurring
in equal numbers in cars that are meant for developed countries?
If not then what is the reason? Is there any
difference in standards of many automatic devices and
their circuits used in cars meant for different countries
[Iike in power windows, automatic Iocks, etc]?
uery No.
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Are such accidents more common in hot cIimate?
iI so, is there uny compurutive stody to prove thut
they ure more common in GolI or AIricun coontries
where weuther is relutively hot.
Query No. 4
Why is that these incidents that were rare earIier
have become very common these days? Is there reaIIy a
significant rise in Indian environmentaI temperature to
expIain this?
Secondly, have these automatic devices or electric circuits
have been tested in hot Indian climate or not ?
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uery No.
hy the automatic doors are permanently locked in such
accidents ?
These doors are supposed to unlock automatically when the
ignition is oII or at zero current. But it has been seen that in many
such cases they are permanently locked even at zero current.
s far as cause of the fire is concerned, the auto. Co. blame the
fuel leak or short circuiting, however, they avoid the question of
malfunction of automatic doors.
%Icsc Co. sIould rcalizc iIai closion is rarc in vcIiclc fircs
and ii usually rogrcsscs slowly in iIc carly siagcs allowing
occuanis iimc io cscac. So unlcss occuani is disallcd or drunl
or ioo young io cscac, in mosi of sucI siiuaiions, occuanis Iavc
cnougI iimc io cscac PFOVIDED iIc doors arc noi loclcd. 11 1s
1e mo1]uno11on o] ou1omo11o doors 1o1 1s mo1n1g respons1b1e
]or 1rog1o deo1s 1n suo ooo1den1s.
ear Friends, Are you just waiting your turn to come !
on't behuve like chickens und wutch helplessly us soch
incidents occor, thinking this is destiny und cunnot be helped !
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PIease come Iorwards and sbow your
concern Ior It. Tbat wouId be tbe reaI trIbute to
our beIoved ones wbo bave been tbe vIctIm oI
tbese new tecbnoIogIes oI vebIcIes !
%his is true that our government is very busy in it's
own probIems these days. However, there do exists
some automobiIe associations & NGOs in India [Iike
SIAM, FAA, etc, etc ] and we expect that they shouId
come forward for some consumers reIated issues aIso
!
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e are g|v|ng some suggest|ons that may he|p |n such a cr|s|s
eep Auto escape tooIs
[( hammer |s the most |mportant escap|ng too|. A|though there are spec|a| hammers
for break|ng g|ass w|ndows ca||ed 'L|fe hammer' but don't fee| shy |n keep|ng
the ord|nary hammer that may not be so good |ook|ng but very effect|ve.
[( po|nted |ron rod to open jammed doors.
[( cutter to cut seat be|t as some t|me due to heat buck|e may fuse to |ts anchor.
[( f|re ext|ngu|sher.
These s|mp|e too|s not on|y save ||ves |n case of emergenc|es but a|so g|ve
peace of m|nd for dr|vers
What to do if the car catches fire?
L|fe hammer 0rd|nary hammer Po|nted |ron rod
l|re exl|rgu|srer
Step 1 $top the car and move to the side of the road
Step 2 Get your seat belt off
Step 3 Turn off the |gn|t|on to stop the e|ectr|c current and
fue| f|ow. Th|s |s necessary to open automat|c doors. |t |s
|mportant to note that |n some cars doors are un|ocked on|y
when keys are removed. 8o don't forget to remove the keys |n
add|t|on to turn|ng |t to off pos|t|on.
ollow These Steps:
o not panic. Panic will cause you to waste precious seconds`.
Think Iast and act Iast. In Iact you have only a Iew seconds so you
can not aIIord time to think BUT to act immediately. This is only
possible when you have already planned some strategy oI selI-
rescue Ior such accidents.
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Step 4 : f doors don't open then use
hammer to break the window glass and
come out.
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Step 5 : If ynu dnn't havc hammcr and cannnt gct thc
dnnr npcn, thc ncxt bcst thIng Is tn kIck nut a wIndnw.
Prcfcrab!y usc bnth fcct agaInst a sIdc wIndnw. Oncc It Is
shattcrcd ynu can push away thc wIndnw nut nf thc
framc.
&se of fire extinguisher:
F|rst ensure your escape then on|y try to douse the f|re. You
shou|d use ext|ngu|sher on|y |f the f|re |s re|at|ve|y 8HALL and
conf|ned to the |nter|or or under bonnet . 0on't try |f the f|re |s |n
|arge area or |n the rear s|de [|.e. near fue| tank(. There |s a r|sk
of exp|os|on and tox|c fumes emanat|ng from veh|c|es f|res.
|nha|at|on of tox|c fumes |s the most common form of f|re-re|ated
death.
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$ome more precautions
. 0o not go back into a burning vehicle and risk yourself by removing personal
belongings.
2. lf a particular fuse is blowing repeatedly then this may be an early indication of
short circuiting .
3. 0ouble check the cap of fuel tank after filling. 0il spilled on a hot exhaust can
cause a fire.
. void throwing cigarette butts anywhere.
5. 0on't ignore any change in vehicle sounds when running, or to a visible plume of
exhaust coming from the tailpipe.
6. 0bserve your temperature gauge frequently . Check if the temperature is rising.
7. For gas based vehicle, it is better to go for a company-fitted kit instead of local
available kits that may not be fire or leak proof.
8. Check frequently for fluid leaks under vehicles [e.g. fuel, motor oil, power steering
fluid, brake fluid or even coolant .
P|ease don't expect too much |uxury |n veh|c|es
hy are we opting for an increasingly sedentary lifestyle
these days?
|f we cons|der the examp|e of a power w|ndow, we f|nd that |n
|nd|a, except for - months, we need the A6 for the ent|re year. The
status of po||ut|on outs|de a|so hard|y a||ows you to pu|| the w|ndow
down once |n a wh||e.
hy can`t we use our hand a little bit to move window
glasses by using a lever-based glass mover? No doubt, you have
to consume 3 calories for it, but it could prove a life-saving
opportunity in some emergency situations, like this and
drowning.
!lease remember power windows ALWAYS need current
and their chances of malfunctions are very high in all kinds of
accidents.
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However, on the other hand the auto Co. are more busy
with the inventions that are meant for more and more
pampering for the drivers.
This invention oj 'invisib/e key hos won o go/d medo/ in on
lnternotiono/ lnvention 5how recent/y [z
nd
ctober, z] !!
e have already discussed about post crash management
in digests 6&7.
rom the next digest onwards we will start a
discussion on prevention of road accidents in our lives and the
role of different agencies like role of citizens, traffic
authorities, automobile companies, public works depts., health
dept, media, parents, NGOs, etc] to control this man-made
disaster.
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WYou hate recelted thls message from 'Tsunaml on Roads
Organltatlon' as a art of an auareness camalgn agalnst
road trafflc hatards. lf ou flnd merlt ln thls message, |ease
foruard lt to our contacts
Irom
Conscious Citizens, India
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