EXPLAINED: Car safety standards in India and abroad

Mumbai: Former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry’s death in a tragic road accident has put the spotlight back on vehicle and road safety norms in India. In the wake of the accident, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari highlighted how auto companies have different standards of safety norms for cars manufactured in India and those exported to foreign markets. In this piece, we break down the status of road accidents and the laws governing car safety in India and abroad.

The Giant Killer

Indian roads are giant killers. According to the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau), 1.55 lakh Indians died in road accidents in 2021. That comes to about 426 deaths every day or almost 18 every hour. This despite India having only three per cent of the world’s vehicular population. However, the frequency of road accidents is barely the problem. Developed countries like the US and Japan witness more road accidents than India but have lower fatalities. Sample this: In 2018, the US recorded 2.21 million deaths but only 37,461 deaths. Similarly, Japan recorded 499,232 road accidents with only 4,698 deaths.

Vehicle Safety Norms in India

The nub of the issue is the lax vehicular safety norms in India. Until recently, car manufacturers were not mandated to have safety features like ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), seat belt warning, driver side airbags, among others. It didn’t come as a surprise when in 2014, five Indian cars - Maruti Alto 800, Tata Nano, Ford Figo, Hyundai i10, and Volkswagen Polo- failed in the NCAP global crash test. Since then, several Indian manufactured cars have failed the test.

In 2014, the union government launched a Statutory Car Assessment Program but it suffered from a lack of standards for front and side impact. More recently, in January 2022, the government issued a notification for new safety norms - Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme (BNVSAP) - to bring vehicular safety rules at par with the global standards. It mandates six airbags in vehicles carrying up to eight passengers, intelligent speed assistance (ISA), advanced emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keeping technology. However, the move was opposed by auto makers in India who fear that more airbags would drive up the cost of vehicles and hurt the entry level segment.

Safety Norms Worldwide

Globally, two large trends are visible: one, car manufacturers adhere to safety norms, thanks to stringent laws. And two, companies champion vehicle safety and use it as a selling point to customers. In contrast, customers in India hardly consider vehicle safety standards when making a purchase.

In most parts of the world, manufacturers are required by law to adhere to stringent safety norms.

Europe

EU's General Safety Regulation outlines all mandatory safety requirements to be followed by vehicle manufacturers in Europe. Some of its key mandates include:

Advanced emergency braking systems

Data recording in the event of an accident

Crash-test approved safety belts

Use of softer materials inside bumpers like foams and crushable plastics to reduce impact severity

Sensors for reversing

Speed assistance

Warnings of drowsiness or distraction

Further, every new car sold in Europe has front and side airbags.

United States

In the US, dual airbags were made mandatory as early as in 1998 by federal law. Currently, the Federal Motor and Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) specifies the safety requirements. While most of them are similar to the ones mandated by the European Union, new requirements include crush resistant roofs, improved seat belts, sensors, etc.

United Kingdom

Prior to Brexit, UK was mulling to implement EU's proposal of mandatory minimum vehicle safety standards. Although UK is yet to take a final call on the proposals, if implemented, the rules would mandate car safety technologies such as intelligent speed assistance (ISA), advanced emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keeping technology.

Currently in the UK, there is no explicit legal requirement for new cars to have airbags but almost all cars have at least four to six airbags.

Germany

There is no law which mandates airbags in Germany but almost all new vehicles are equipped with at least one airbag. Moreover, Germany has a record for producing highly safe and advanced cars across the world.