Driving in home truths: Western designs unfit for Indian vehicles

PUNE, February 14: Data from western countries have been used to design vehicles plying on Indian roads for quite some time now, despite the...

PUNE, February 14: Data from western countries have been used to design vehicles plying on Indian roads for quite some time now, despite the fact that it does not take the needs of Indian drivers into consideration. For instance, as compared to an average North American person, an average Indian is shorter in height by 6.3 cm. Not just this, even the girth of an Indian is more than that of an average American by about 4.8 cm.

This was disclosed by a study conducted by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) on the Indian driving population, which was approved by the Ministry of Industries during 1994-95. The idea was to provide some kind of comparison for the data available on western drivers.

A total of 2,000 respondents were covered under this Rs 10 lakh project in four cities namely, Pune, New Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore. Important aspects covered under the two year long study include the comfort, fatigue and safety factors. Studies were also conducted on the finger pressure, handpressure and the foot pressure exerted by a driver.

According to ARAI officials, this data will also prove useful in other areas such as designing furniture, gloves and socks and manufacturing footwear, artificial limbs and medical electronics. According to the study, while the foot breadth of an average Indian is larger than that of a North American by 5 mm, the arm reach of an average Indian is at par with the arm reach of a North American. Moreover, the two wheeler driving positions preferred by women are significantly different than men.