All new cars made after July 2019 to carry airbags and seat-belt reminder systems

The Union Road Transport Ministry has mandated that all cars manufactured after 1 July 2019 should be fitted with airbags and seat-belt reminder systems for bypassing 80 kmph while driving.

Parking sensors are part of the package and will be made mandatory within the same timeline, which will be officially notified in a few days.

At present such features are only present in luxury cars.

The report also said that airbags and reverse parking sensors would be made mandatory for light commercial vehicles in urban areas.

Moneycontrol reported earlier in October that a draft notice had been issued for installing “beeping devices” in cars.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has approved the move for passenger as well as pedestrian safety on India’s roads as thousands of people die in road crashes.

Also Read: National Capital registers highest fatal accidents in 2016; Mumbai shows improvement

An official from the Road Transport ministry had said that the “mechanical defect” was responsible for 1.4 percent of accidents last year.

As per the data, 84 percent of the accidents occur due to driver’s fault, of which 66.5 percent of accidents happen due to over-speeding. There were 2,68,341 reported cases of accidents attributed to it which took life in 61 percent cases.

The new seat-belt reminder systems will issue an audio alert when the speed crosses 80 kmph. The alert will escalate and become a sharper one when the speed crosses 100 kmph, and will become non-stop when it is over 120 kmph, a Transport Ministry was quoted in a report by The Times of India.

The parking system would include a rear parking sensor that will help the vehicles park properly by monitoring objects in the back side of the vehicle the minute the rear gear is set.

Manual override system ensures an emergency escape in case electric power failure disables the car’s central locking system and ends up trapping passengers inside.

The measures would also mean that there will be a quicker implementation of frontal and side crash test for vehicles.

The move is in line with global safety standards quoting that “no vehicle should be a death trap”.

All new cars are expected to be undergoing crash tests from 1 October itself.

Existing car models will have to comply with safety standards by October 1, 2019.