To enhance safety, motor vehicles carrying up to 8 passengers have been made mandatory in the draft GSR notification to have at least six airbags.
Concerns have often been raised about the safety of passengers in vehicles sold in the Indian market. The government has taken several steps to address these concerns.
In a tweet on Friday, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that he has approved the draft GSR notification to make a minimum of six airbags mandatory for motor vehicles carrying eight people.
“This will ultimately ensure the safety of passengers across all segments, irrespective of the price/variant of the vehicle,” Gadkari said.
The ministry has already made it mandatory to implement the fitment of driver airbags from 1st July 2019 and front co-passenger airbags from 1st January this year.
In the M1 vehicle category, it has been decided that four additional airbags are mandatory to reduce the impact of front and rear collisions for both front and rear compartments.
This will include two side/side torso airbags and two side curtain/tube airbags that will cover all the car passengers. He said that this is an important step in making motor vehicles in India safer than ever before.
The reason behind six airbags
India is one of the top countries with an alarmingly large number of road accidents registered every year. A large number of deaths and serious injuries occur in these road accidents. Whereas, the major reason behind the accidents is traffic rules violations. But inadequate safety measures, especially in small entry-level vehicles, are also the cause of a large number of deaths.
In India, 1.20 lakh deaths related to road accidents due to negligence were registered in 2020. According to government data, an average of 328 people lost their lives every day despite the Covid-19 lockdown. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed in its annual ‘Crime India’ report for 2020 that 3.92 lakh people have lost their lives in road accidents due to negligence in three years.
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