Mandating 6 Airbags a saviour?

Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, Nitin Gadkari announced the mandatory of 6 Airbags in M1 category cars, i.e. cars with capacity upto 8 passengers by 1st October, 2022 with a draft issued earlier this year on 14th Jan, 2022.

However, with the raising concerns from Automotive industry and global supply chain shortages, the Government has extended the deadline to October 2023.

Now the question arises, how much does mandating 6 six airbags accounts to in reducing the fatalities in India in road accidents.  In India, the fatalities increasing by 15-17% every year with 1.55 lakh dies in 2021, 1.4 lakh in 2020 and this count increasing in 2022.

Indian roads witnessing around 4 lakh accidents every year and 2 wheelers accounting nearly half of the count and cars accounting about 25-30%.

A passenger in a car is considered safe accounting on several attributes. Nothing to doubt in, Airbags play important role in accidents. But, Improper installing of Airbags can be more dangerous, can even be fatal. Not all existing models can accommodate spots for side and curtain airbags, small hatchbacks, SUVs may need structural design change to get them fit in. 

We have few more aspects  Auto manufacturers to focus on. Body shell integrity, Electronic stability controls, Effective braking, Seatbelts and not to forget, Government to work on better roads which is vital. An unstable structure may cause more injuries to passengers even with 6 airbags. Most of the manufacturers neglecting safety and instead investing in features inside the car and hence proven to be disastrous in safety ratings by crash test agencies around the world.

India is working on Bharat NCAP, where cars are crash tested under different real time scenarios and provide standard ratings. But its not going to be mandatory that every manufacturer needs to be tested their models. Government should make it mandatory to test every car before rolling out on roads. This may create a difference in road fatalities. 

A pleasant scenario is that public are getting aware of safety and choosing to bring home a safe car, thanks to home grown Automotive giants Tata, Mahindra in leading path injecting safety prospective into public.

Please comment your views on the topic. Meet you again with more interesting blogs.