In a bid to raise the bar for safety, Government pushes for a better way to assess crashworthiness of vehicles
Nitin Gadkari, Union Transport Minister, said that India will soon get its own Star Rating system that will test the cars under different parameters. Apart from the safety of the occupants, the new system will also gauge the safety of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.
Key Highlights
- Indian cars to go through a safety rating system similar to NCAP
- All seats in cars to get the three-point seatbelt
- 12-point changes in MV rules to add new features
Overview
India is setting-up its own crash test rating system
India is one of the biggest car markets in the world. But every year, thousands of road users get involved in fatal accidents. Nitin Gadkari, the transport minister of India is set to change the trend by bringing safer cars to the market and making additional safety equipment mandatory for cars.
India to get safety star ratings
Like pedestrian safety
Nitin Gadkari will soon introduce a new Star Rating system regime to gauge the safety parameters in the new cars. The new system will also test the car’s ability to keep pedestrians and other vulnerable road users like two-wheeler riders safe in an accident.
Cars will now come with safety stars just like in developed markets
Currently, Global NCAP tests the Indian-spec cars. Their campaign on Safer Cars For India has been working for over 6 years now and many cars have scored the maximum five-star ratings. You can get the complete list of top-rated safe cars in India here.
Government has also announced 12-point change for new features including driver drowsiness alert
According to the ETAuto, the new safety assessment of cars will include the structure of the vehicles, the safety of adult and child occupants, seat belt reminders, ESC, inbuilt safety assistance technology and also hill assist technology.
Three-point seat belts now mandatory
The rear seats will also become much safer than before
In a press conference, Gadkari said,
“I have signed a file yesterday to make it mandatory for automakers to provide three-point seat belts for all the front-facing passengers in a car”.
While three-point safety seat belts have become mandatory for all forward-facing vehicles, the government did not give a date on the implementation.
Currently, the middle seats of most cars in India offer a lap belt-type seatbelt that we get to see on the aircraft. These will be replaced with three-point belts just the ones available with the front
seats.
And six airbags
Gadkari also said that the government is planning to make six airbags mandatory in India. Earlier, two airbags were made mandatory and now the number will be increased to six. With all the additional safety equipment, the price of the budget cars will be most affected.
Do you want safer or cheaper cars in India? Do let us know what you think about it in the comments below.
Keyword: India To Get Its Very Own Car Safety Ratings Soon: Nitin Gadkari