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India Mandates Airbags, Speed Limit Alarms
India’s transport ministry has ruled that all new cars sold in the country starting July 2019 must be equipped with frontal airbags and a device that emits an audio alert if the driver exceeds 80 kph (50 mph).
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India’s transport ministry has ruled that all new cars sold in the country from July 2019 must be equipped with frontal airbags and a device that emits an audio alert if the driver exceeds 80 kph (50 mph).
The speed alarm will sound more stridently as drivers exceed 80 kph and become constant at speeds above 120 kph (75 mph). Speeding has been blamed for nearly half of the 151,000 traffic fatalities in India last year, according to The Economic Times.
The ministry also is mandating seatbelt reminder alerts, a manual override for central door locks and sensors to detect objects when the driver is backing up. Such features currently are typical only in luxury vehicles.
Requiring the rudimentary safety features for all cars is considered a step toward the country’s adoption of government-mandated front and side crash tests, ET says. Many cars made in India flunk minimal crash standards promoted by Global NCAP (New Car Assessment Program). The independent British agency promotes the adoption of at least United Nations safety protection goals for cars in any market.
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