The Union government has decided to extend the implementation of a proposal mandating a minimum of six airbags in passenger cars to October 1, 2023.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari on Thursday stated that the safety of all costs and variants of vehicles, is the foremost priority.
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New mandate after 2022
Earlier this year, he had said that in order to enhance the safety of occupants of the motor vehicle it was decided to enhance safety features by amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989.
“A draft notification has been issued on 14th January 2022, which mandates that vehicles of category M1, manufactured after 1st October 2022, shall be fitted with two side/side torso air bags, one each for the persons occupying front row outboard seating positions, and two side curtain/tube air bags, one each for the persons occupying outboard seating positions,” said the Ministry in a statement on January 15, 2022.
What is a side torso airbag?
“Side curtain/tube air bag” means any inflatable occupant restraint device that is mounted to the side structure of the vehicle interior, and that is designed to deploy in a side impact crash or rollover to help mitigate primarily head injury and/or occupant ejection for the persons occupying the outboard seating positions.
The rule was supposed to be implemented in 2022 but has been postponed due to supply chain constraints faced by automakers.
Supply chain constraints
Hence it had made the decision in the wake of “global supply chain constraints”.
Gadkari said: “Considering the global supply chain constraints being faced by the auto industry and its impact on the macroeconomic scenario, it has been decided to implement the proposal mandating a minimum of 6 Airbags in Passenger Cars (M-1 Category) w.e.f 01st October 2023.
M1 category refers to vehicles used for the carriage of passengers comprising not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat.
Road safety awareness
Gadkari had urged automobile manufacturers in India on September 14 to adopt global safety norms for cars in the country.
Majority of automobile manufacturers in India are exporting cars with 6 airbags but not so in India due to the economic model and cost.
He highlighted that every year, around five lakh road accidents killed 1.5 lakh people and injured more than three lakh in the country.
This translates to an average of 426 daily or 18 every single hour – which is the highest death figures recorded in any calendar year so far.
Not costly to average consumer
The report titled ‘Road accidents in India – 2020’, over 11% of deaths and injuries were caused due to non-usage of seat belts.
He also said that the end cost per airbag to buyers would be Rs 800, a minuscule price to pay for enhanced safety.
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