Indian cars to be safer soon; Government to make Airbags, ABS, ESC mandatory!

NCAP - New Car Assessment Programme; star ratings - 3 star, 5 star; Euro NCAP, Latin NCAP, ANCAP; heard these several times? Soon India will get its own new car crash testing and assessment programme for new cars. The popular safety programmes around the globe are backed up by their respective governments which includes giving star ratings to the new vehicles once they qualify the pre-set safety norms including crash test and various others parameters. Adding to it, the Indian government has already made the child restraint system mandatory in all the new cars in India from October 1, 2014.

Government is talking to various automakers lately. Recently, they also made the ABS mandatory in commercial vehicles from April, 2015. The crash testing facilities are expected to be up by December in Pune and Manesar. The new vehicle will undergo frontal crash test at 56km/h and ratings will be rewarded in between 1-5 stars depending on how clearly the vehicle qualifies the pre-set tests combined with crash test results.

What will be made mandatory by the government?

ABS - Anti-Lock-Breaking system

It prevents the wheel from skidding and locking in an event of sudden braking on various tarmacs – wet, snow, gravel, such that the vehicle easily steers off the obstacle. It also helps in reducing the braking distance in several cases.

ESC - Electronic Stability Control

This system prevents the vehicle to become out of control. Backed up by an electronic-control-unit, it prevents over-steer, under-steer, unwanted skidding by applying brakes at individual wheels depending on the situation, to keep the vehicle in control.

Airbags

Once the Airbag sensor senses the severity of the crash, it inflates the airbags mounted in the cabin. The airbag inflates in milliseconds and absorbs most of the crash energy thus preventing you from injuries. Nowadays, cars offer multiple airbags to keep you thoroughly safe.

In the recent budget, the government laid focus on the transportation infrastructure of the country. They plan to strengthen road networks and build new highways and expressways. Furthermore, if ABS, ESC, airbags are made mandatory, India will surely drop from the top in the list of countries with most number of accidental casualties across the world.