Cars to be equipped with child Restraint System (CRS) from October 1st

India's first initiative towards automobile safety, the Government of India made mandatory that all the cars fromOctober 1 2014 will be equipped with child restraint system (CRS). This is the first initiative towards child safety in automobiles in the county. The CRS which is mandatory in the west and in most of the developed countries for a long time now. CRS is nothing but a hard back seat with a set of harness to keep your lil' toddler safe and intact. From 1st October'14, all car manufacturers shall provide fitments comprising of CRS in their passenger motor vehicles. The manufacturer/dealer/importer are abide to guide the customer of the respective vehicle about the fitment and use of the entire system.

According to the figures, nearly 1.32 lakh motor accidents deaths are reported annually in the country, making it the highest in the world. Its a great effort by the government towards child safety which will considerably reduce child related mishap in event of an accident. In some of the developed countries, children up to a certain age are not allowed to sit beside the driving seat, as airbag which is standard there, designed only for adults could prove devastating for kids. Airbags can only be helpful if the person is strapped safely in a seatbelt; a child could not fix comfortably in the seatbelt because of the lesser height and also seat-belts are designed for adults. CRS is a type of seat which cocoons well for your child with specifically designed seat and it is generally equipped with 5 point seatbelt harness covering from shoulder to lap area; generally known as child seat. In an event of accident, the CRS will make sure that your child is firmly seated and intact in the seat itself. CRS is in-turn attached to the rear seats of the vehicle with latches using ISOFIX mounting points. ISOFIX interprets to 'international standard for attachment points for child safety seats in passenger cars'.

Most of the automobile manufacturer already offering safety equipments like ABS and airbags as standard although there is no government regulation. Making CRS mandatory, a positive move by GOI but it is high time that government should make ABS and airbags standard across all the vehicles rolling out from the showrooms; it will definitely bring the increasing casualty figures every year down