Why supercars are killing machines on Indian roads

Most of the high profile accidents that occur on Indian roads involve supercars and this leads many to the conclusion that these are killer cars, wild and uncontrollable and I am surprised that there has not yet been a cry to ban them from Indian roads. So is it the cars that are responsible or the people who are driving them the culprits or are these accidents actually what the word really means - unfortunate incidents that occur unexpectedly and unintentionally?

One thing is clear that supercars, despite having most safety equipments on board that is available in any car, period, can easily become lethal weapons of "mass" destruction for both the occupants as well as those that cross their path. Let me examine the various aspects that make supercars different from normal cars.

Driving under influence (DUI)

Many drivers can get away driving normal cars while intoxicated or impaired but driving supercars under the influence of any substance can transform them into lethal weapons. They get up to high speeds very quickly, are more sensitive to driver inputs and combined with a number of other factors can result in tragedy.

Speed

Speed by itself is not lethal or dangerous. And supercars are built for high speed. And that in itself is becomes a big drawback. The cars are and feel stable and composed under much higher speeds than one is normally used to. Drivers do not realise how exponentially braking distances increase at higher speeds even for cars that are designed to slow down much quicker than they are designed to accelerate. Vision becomes narrower and one needs to react much more in advance at these higher speeds. But the problem does not end there. The bigger problem lies with all the other road users at that time. They are not used to cars at such high speeds. If they see the car at a distance, they cannot fathom how quickly it will get to them. And that holds true for all the other road users - pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and drivers of other motor vehicles.

Road surface

A supercar in motion is the practical demonstration of a number of laws of physics being tested to the extreme. A lot of factors working harmoniously with each other ensure just another exhilarating drive in a supercar. It's like a number of complex physics equations working in tandem to churn out an everyday drive performance. One of these complex equations is the downforce generation and it depends on the quantum of air passing over the surfaces designed to ensure that the wheels have good traction and remain on the ground as opposed to the quantum of wind getting under the car and over the surfaces that produce lift - just like in an airplane.

In normal circumstances the car remains planted to the road surface and hence responsive to every driver input. But it takes very little to break this equilibrium and more so at high speeds. And in India, all it takes is either a serious bump in the road or a number of small road anomalies to disturb this delicate balance which can result in a disruption of downforce leading to the steering not responding how it should, brake distances getting much longer owing to reduced traction in the smaller instances of such occurrences to a complete loss of control in the major instances. This loss of control may also be owing to the suspension bottoming out or being fully extended and may be just for a few seconds or even less. What the driver does in these circumstances will decide the outcome. Any if the driver of this supercar has never been in such situations before - catastrophe may be the result.

Visibility

Supercars are mean machines and are designed to perform and look the part. Hence a lot of practical aspects are either ignored, not given due attention or in most likelihood, are given considerable thought but there is nothing that can be done about them. One of these factors is visibility - both from inside the car as well as the silhouette of the car on the road. The driver sits low in the car, has many blind spots to contend with and often does not realise what s/he can see and what s/he is missing out on. The other road users, for instance, have to look out for a car that sits low on the tarmac, moves at a speed that is alien to them and can easily be lost in glare of the sun, evening haze or be hidden behind other moving traffic at crucial junctures.

Panic

This is perhaps the one biggest factor that plays a part in most supercar accidents. It is very easy to trip over into a state of panic from a high adrenalin rush which one gets into within seconds of taking one's place behind the wheel of a supercar, if not already before that. All modern cars are built with a huge number of safety features and systems but the driver has to allow them to work. Simple things like steering under emergency braking (facilitated by anti-lock braking system, or ABS) or executing a fast double lane change manoeuvre (facilitated by the electronic stability programme, or ESP) can actually prevent accidents if the need arises but most drivers are oblivious to both the capabilities of their vehicles as well as what they need to do to get out of a tricky situation.

The solution is to make it mandatory for all drivers and/or buyers of cars with top speeds of over 200kmph to undergo a basic driver training and accident prevention course while those with top speeds of over 249kmph should be made to undergo an advanced driver training course with the main aim of these courses being to make the driver aware of the capabilities of his car - in terms of the active and passive safety systems as well as to try an inculcate a habit of doing the right things in panic situations.

While supercars themselves are dangerous on public roads, they are made even more so by both the condition of Indian roads and the traffic on them, but the final responsibility lies in the hands of the driver and s/he should be well-trained to handle these machines.