OEM’s promise to make killer roads safer for you

The choice for Indian carmakers is simple: Reengineer or stop production that doesn’t make the safety cut. Come October, safety features such as dual airbags and antilock-braking systems (ABS) will be mandatory in all new models. From October 2019, all cars currently in production will need to meet these standards. For many years, India has had more road fatalities than any other country, despite a vehicle population that is a fraction of that in leading economies. With 1,46,133 vehicular deaths in 2015, road fatality was one of the most important mortality causes, resulting in a national loss of over $8 billion, estimates the transport ministry, or close to 3 per cent of GDP. To address this, the Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme was initiated, proposing a New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) — a system of star ratings based on their safety performance. Says David Ward, Secretary General of Global NCAP, the UK-headquartered automobile safety rating programme, “Ahead of the 2019 deadline, manufacturers will have to choose either to upgrade existing models or discontinue sub-standard production.”