October 6, 2015
NEW DELHI: Vehicle manufacturers, particularly cars, cannot escape complying with the best international standards for safety from 2017 onwards, heavy industries secretary Rajan Katoch said on Monday indicating that the industry should get ready for this.
October 6, 2015
NEW DELHI: Vehicle manufacturers, particularly cars, cannot escape complying with the best international standards for safety from 2017 onwards, heavy industries secretary Rajan Katoch said on Monday indicating that the industry should get ready for this.
Sources said that passing the crash test would require every new vehicle to have air bags.
He said that it will be "difficult for automobile industry to offer anything that is not best so far as safety of drivers and passengers is concerned". Speaking at a conference on road safety organized by International Road Federation (IRF) Katoch said by 2017 India will get seven centres to carry out all safety tests including frontal and side crash test.
Sources said that passing the crash test would require every new vehicle to have air bags and therefore this will be a safety feature in all future models. Moreover, the road transport ministry is coming out with regulations for mandatory use of anti-lock braking system in vehicles.
Katoch said the focus is now shifting on to safer vehicles. He said that with the test centres becoming operational, the automobile manufacturers can't say that there is no domestic facility to carry out the mandatory tests.
TOI on January 1 had first reported how the road transport ministry has set October 2017 as the deadline for mandatory crash test for new models and October 2019 for existing cars. "These dates have been fixed after wider consultation with the manufacturer. Some of them have already started taking necessary steps. There will be no tweaking with this timeline," a ministry official said.
Highlighting how there is a need to ensure that vehicles are safe for the occupants, Martin Jeressand, vice-president (soft products) of Volvo Buses said that they have a vision to ensure that no death happens because of their vehicles by 2020.
While director of Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) Rashmi Urdhwareshe highlighted how the safety features in vehicles can be "implemented by regulation" and stricter compliance, IRF chief K K Kapila said that the automobile industry should rise to the occasion. "When they can export safe cars to other countries, why can't they do so for our customers. They should market their safety features for higher sale of products," he added.
Courtesy: TOI
