Proposal: New safety measures for three-wheelers

If a recent proposal drafted by the Automotive Industry Standards Committee (AISC) is anything to go by, soon all three-wheelers might be fitted with seat belts. The standards for both types of three-wheelers - goods as well as passenger carriers, might soon have some new pre-defined criteria, which manufacturers may need to incorporate into future designs.

There are 6 parameters which have been taken into account - vehicle dimension, seat dimension for passenger & driver, provision of doors for passenger compartment, leg space for passengers, seat belt & anchorages for driver and headlamp illumination. Some of the parameters are as below:

Dimensions:
The overall length, width and height of the 3-wheeler must not exceed 4,000mm, 1,600mm and 2,200mm respectively.

Provision of doors for passenger compartment:
The passenger carrying vehicles will be fitted with side-opening, hinged doors (like a car). These doors must have a locking mechanism to avoid accidental opening.

Leg space for passengers:
A minimum leg space of 280mm for the rear passengers and in case of side-facing seats, it needs to be 500mm between the seat cushions.

Seat belt:
A two-point seat belt will be required to be fitted for the driver (with or without a retractor).

The erstwhile Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST) has constituted a permanent Automotive Industry Standards Committee (AISC) on September 15, 1997. These standards prepared by AISC will be approved by the permanent CMVR Technical Standing Committee (CMVR-TSC). After approval, the Automotive Research Association of India, (ARAI), Pune, being the Secretariat of the AIS Committee, will publish this standard.

While these are welcome additions towards the safety of the driver and the occupants, the basic structural integrity of these vehicles is itself compromised.