Indian cars to have mandatory pedestrian safety features

Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary , Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) while launching the initiative said “Advanced safety features  is a must in all vehicles in India as vehicle safety cannot be confined to luxury vehicles only . Features like anti-lock braking have already been mandatory in two wheeler s and by next month (October 2018) all new cars will have pedestrian safety feature including new design of the bonnet to reduce impact on pedestrians during accidents.”

“India does not have Bharat New Car Assessment Program(BNCAP) but we are implementing all safety features in our vehicles  with active support of vehicle manufacturers. Electronic Stability Control (ESC)  and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) will be incorporated in new vehicles between year 2021 and 2023.ABS and automatic headlights for two wheeler s has already been mandated,” said Damle

"By the year 2022 most of our vehicle safety will be at par with global standards and some safety features may surpass United  States safety standards even. But real challenge is bringing in maximum safety at affordable cost so that cost of vehicles does not go up steeply,” he noted.

“Stop The Crash initiative was launched at Budh International Circuit (BIC)  in Greater Noida, India's only F1 track accompanied with  live demonstrations of advanced crash avoidance technologies that are capable of preventing many types of vehicle collision before they happen. The demonstrations included showcase of how much safer cars or two wheelers can get with the likes of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and anti lock braking system (ABS) for two wheelers,” said  David Ward, Secretary General of Global NCAP and Chairman of the ‘Stop the Crash’ Partnership at launch of the initiative in India.

Stop The Crash is a multi-stakeholder partnership led by ?Global ?NCAP, the award winning international road safety charity, campaigning for the widest availability of these road safety technologies worldwide.

“GNCAP, an independent charity focused on international consumer-orientated vehicle safety initiatives is hosting its first ever World Congress in India to provide a unique opportunity to assess the contribution that safer vehicles can make to the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety and the Sustainable Development Goals,”  said Ward.

The 'Stop The Crash' programme will also encourage the adoption of autonomous braking systems, a technology that is known to greatly reduce the risk to both the car in question and other vehicles or vulnerable road users around it in case of a detected crash/obstacle. Global NCAP strongly supports the Indian Government’s mandating anti -lock braking system and automatic headlights for motorcycles. New two wheelers sold in India greatly outnumber the number of cars sold in the country and safer two wheelers can greatly reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on Indian roads, he noted.

“The main aim of World Congress being held in Delhi is to facilitate high level dialogue on a global roadmap for vehicle safety with the automobile manufacturers, senior policy makers, road safety experts, and fleet managers. A key theme of the World Congress will be how NCAPs worldwide have succeeded in building a market for safer cars by raising consumer awareness of the critical safety choices they make when buying a new vehicle. The experience of NCAPs in South East Asia and Latin America and their relevance to similar emerging markets in India and Africa will also be discussed,” said Dr Rohit Baluja , President, Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) which is partner host of GNCAP World Congress  in India .