[TusharK]

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to implement international standards of emission and safety measures for transport vehicles.



The government is in the process of finalization of implementation of standards for electronic stability control (ESC) and brake assist systems. The notification regarding ESC for buses was issued last year. It is likely to come into force by April 2023.

By October 2020, the government could also make tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) mandatory for certain categories of vehicles.

Notifications on standards for vehicle dimensions, safety of construction equipment vehicles, side stands, foot rests for 2-wheelers have been issued. Other safety systems like ABS, airbags, speed alert systems, reverse parking assist along with new crash standards have already been implemented.

[vigsom]

Good to see these measures being implemented.

But how many of these will achieve the end objective of reducing mishaps remains to be seen.

Private car owners don't fiddle or bypass these systems, but commercial operators just don't care.

As an example, I've seen Volvos with the annunciator panel flashing error messages but the drivers were least bothered.

There is an old bus operator in TN whose Volvos have mostly bald tyres, cracked windscreens and this operator is notorious for poor upkeep of the fleet.

[Bibendum90949]

A welcome move, which shouldn't be limited to buses alone.

Just like ABS and front airbags, ESC also should be made mandatory for cars. Such a life saving feature.

[A.M.]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Good to see these measures being implemented.

As an example, I've seen Volvos with the annunciator panel flashing error messages but the drivers were least bothered.

There is an old bus operator in TN whose Volvos have mostly bald tyres, cracked windscreens and this operator is notorious for poor upkeep of the fleet.

Only if you had seen the Volvos of WB govt!

The suspension makes a beautiful drumming beat which is usually louder than the radio.

Engine oil has not been changed for God knows how many years.

The bottom 5-10% of the driver's door is always brown and flaked with rust. Many times the bare feet of the driver is visible through holes.

Heck, the driver keeps his widow open throughout the journey in an AC bus! This is so that they can conveniently spit out the tobacco from their mouth whenever they want to

And I've NEVER seen them wear the seat belt correctly.
Some buses even have a fine layer of dust over the seat belt, giving it a unique two-tone colour combination (something even Volvo couldn't achieve )

They absolutely DON'T CARE about whatever features and safety equipments there are in the bus.
They just want to finish their shift ASAP and go back home.

[GTO]

Is this a precursor to ESP becoming mandatory for cars too? Remember, ABS was first made compulsory for commercial vehicles, and then for cars ~4 years later. Love such forward-thinking initiatives as the mass production of these life saving technologies has made them so cheap.

The day isn't too far when a Maruti S-Presso & Hyundai Santro will have ESP. I'll say 2025 tops.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by GTO

Is this a precursor to ESP becoming mandatory for cars too? Remember, ABS was first made compulsory for commercial vehicles, and then for cars ~4 years later.

I sincerely hope so. As someone working in this particular field, I've seen first hand how much of an impact ESP can make. It can prevent so many cases of skidding related accidents. Many "higher end" features like hill hold, automatic hold, adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, disc wiping, driver brake boost, hill descent etc. need ESP as a base. Would be great to see such feature trickle down to lower end cars.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by GTO

The day isn't too far when a Maruti S-Presso & Hyundai Santro will have ESP. I'll say 2025 tops.

You mean to say the black coffee and santro will be around till 2025

Although the government makes a lot of things mandatory in Commercial Vehicles, how much of these would actually be working 6 months down the lane? Are these equipments tested during fitness tests?

A few year ago we had made air conditioning mandatory for trucks - later watered down to only air-blower.