India’s Airbag Law: Center extends deadline for mandatory enforcement of 6 airbags in a car by one year

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced on Thursday that the deadline for the mandatory implementation of six airbags in a passenger car has been pushed back by a year, i.e. say as of October 1, 2023.

The deadline has been extended due to the global supply chain constraints facing the automotive industry and its impact on the macroeconomic scenario, the minister said.

“In view of the global supply chain constraints facing the automotive industry and its impact on the macroeconomic scenario, it has been decided to implement the proposal imposing a minimum of 6 airbags in passenger cars (category M-1) from October 1, 2023,” the minister tweeted.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in a statement that in order to improve the safety of motor vehicle occupants against side impact, it has been decided to improve the safety by modifying the central rules of motor vehicles. (CMVR), 1989.

“A draft notification was issued on January 14, 2022, which states that vehicles of category M1, manufactured after October 1, 2022, must be equipped with two side / side torso airbags, one each for persons occupying the first-row outboard seats positions, and two curtain/side-tube airbags, one each for those occupying the outboard seating positions.

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), more than 1.55 lakh lives were lost in road accidents across India in 2021 – an average of 426 per day or 18 every hour – this which is the highest number of deaths recorded in a calendar year. far.

According to the report titled “Road Crashes in India — 2020”, more than 11% of deaths and injuries are due to failure to wear seat belts.

“The safety of all passengers traveling in motor vehicles, regardless of cost and variants, is the top priority,” Gadkari tweeted.

Gadkari said on September 13 that the majority of automakers in India were already exporting cars with six airbags and there was a need to adopt similar safety standards for cars in the country, stressing that they should also think about the safety of people using small economy cars.

Addressing the annual session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), Gadkari pointed out that every year some 5,000 road accidents kill 1.5 lakh people and injure over 3,000.

“Majority of car manufacturers in India are exporting cars with 6 airbags. But in India, due to business model and cost, they are reluctant,” he said.

Gadkari wondered why automakers don’t think about the lives of people using economy cars in India. Mostly lower middle class people buy small economy cars.

An airbag is a vehicle occupant restraint system that interferes between the driver and the vehicle’s dashboard during a collision, preventing serious injury.