All trucks, buses from April 2020 must have reverse parking alerts

NEW DELHI: All new trucks and buses manufactured from April 2020 will need to have reverse parking alert system to avoid any accidents, the road transport ministry has said. This mandatory norm will also kick in for cars and other four-wheelers from July 2019.

In a notification issued on Thursday, the road transport ministry said the compulsory installation of reverse parking alert system won’t apply to tractors including puller tractor for semi-trailers, trailers and modular hydraulic trailers. The alert system includes installing sensors that sounds a warning when an object is at a certain monitorable distance. It can also include provision of installation of rear view cameras for visual information and warning to the driver.

The new norms gain importance considering that numerous fatal accidents happen while truckers and bus drivers put their vehicles in reverse gear for parking. In two recent incidents in Delhi, two persons including a school girl was killed and another was injured when two reversing trucks met with accidents.

Rear view cameras are important since in many cases the drivers often can’t spot any small object or a child while reversing a vehicle and this becomes a dark zone.