Window to wisdom

H.Kishie Singh

It could have been avoided had the driver been a little more cautious and used some common sense.

First, you have to understand that cars today are almost sound proof. Try this little experiment. Make a phone call while sitting in your car and the window rolled down. Then roll up the window. You are in an almost sound-proof chamber. While designing a car, one of the most difficult tasks for the designer is to reduce, if not eliminate, as much as possible NVH.

NVH stands for Noise, Vibration, Harshness.

Absorbent material is used to make the cabin quiet. Road and traffic noise is kept out. Not quite aware of this aspect of the car can lead to an alarming situation. It happened recently again, as it has happened hundreds of times before.

A man got into his car in the driveway and reversed. He hit his young son riding a tricycle. The child yelled, panicked and ran. The tricycle was crushed. The yells from the bystanders and neighbours went unheard. Only when people came and banged on the car, did he brake to a halt. A tragedy was averted. The child was bruised and frightened out of his wits. The tricycle was in pieces.

This happened because the driver did not follow a recommended procedure, which is: Before setting out for office or even shopping or dropping your child to school, walk around the car and check your tyres. It is possible that one of the off-side tyres has picked up a puncture and lost air. It helps to know this in advance. You could change the tyre at home with help rather than on the road where you may be stranded.

To make sure this does not happen to me, when my car is being cleaned in the morning, I get Suresh to push the car a full length. A flat tyre shows up instantly. For me, Suresh is the best car cleaner in the country! To clean my door-hinges he uses a tooth brush. So the car is road worthy. Get into the car, ignition on, pay attention to the dash board. The red and amber lights will further confirm the health of the car.

Start the engine, lower the windows and listen. Switch off the music system. This is very important. With the windows up and the music on, sitting in an almost sound-proof chamber, you won’t hear a dog squealing or a child screaming, or your car scrapping the curb or crushing your child’s tricycle!

The first five minutes after getting into your car are critical. Remember the benzene smell we discussed a couple of weeks ago? The smell is a killer. Open the windows to let in fresh air. It is an antidote for the benzene smell. Unless you live in Delhi! While reversing, someone may be giving you instructions to reverse. No music and windows rolled down will help you hear the instructions.

Here again, as the engine revs up, you will be able to hear any changes in the engine by the sound. Flipping the accelerator a couple of times will get the engine oil to circulate and warm up the engine before you hit the main road.

Happy motoring!