India: No Plan to Mandate Airbags
India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways says it has no plans to require airbags in passenger cars, The Economic Times reports.
#economics
India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways says it has no plans to require airbags in passenger cars, The Economic Times reports.
But the ministry notes that in October 2017 it will begin a two-year phase-in of rules that improve structural crash protection for lateral and offset frontal collisions and mandate steering columns that collapse in head-on crashes.
The country mandated seatbelts nearly 11 years ago but added a child restraint system requirement only last October.
In 2014 India’s five best-selling minicars all flunked crash tests conducted by Global NCAP, a nonprofit safety group that provides crashworthiness data for vehicles sold in emerging markets. The models, none of which was equipped with airbags, all posed a “high risk of life-threatening injuries,” NCAP warned.
The safety group added that the crash structures of most of the models it tested were so weak that adding airbags would have contributed little protection for occupants.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Lincoln-Shinola, Euro EV Sales, Engineered Carbon, and more
On a Lincoln-Shinola concept, Euro EV sales, engineered carbon for fuel cells, a thermal sensor for ADAS, battery analytics, and measuring vehicle performance in use with big data
-
On Headlights, Tesla's Autopilot, VW's Electric Activities and More
Seeing better when driving at night, understanding the limits of “Autopilot,” Volkswagen’s electric activities, and more.
-
Inside Ford
On this edition of “Autoline After Hours” Joann Muller, Detroit bureau chief for Forbes, provides insights into what she’s learned about Ford, insights that are amplified on the show by our other panelists, Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst at IHS Markit who specializes in the auto industry, and Todd Lassa, Detroit Bureau Chief for Automobile.