[abhinavinc]

A good time to invest in shares of current ABS/Air Bag suppliers in India maybe, eh??

[vipul_singh]

@abhinavinc: yes, Takata, for instance could be a perfect investment choice! ;-)

[PVPal]

This is a welcome move. One may say long delayed, and long wished.

Although, I understand the time given to manufacturer's, Oct 2015 sounds too generous to me. After all its potential lives of people we are talking about.

I think there is still a hint of political will missing, and the lobbying manufacturers have decent clout, considering that when the Honorable Supremen Court put an end to the careers of politicians with criminal litigation against them, the cabinet approved an ordinance in no time.

When it comes to their lives, they are super quick, without any ethical considerations. When its to our lives, manufacturing and market considerations, are given more importance.

[D4D]

Finally the government is waking up. A little late though. And I say that's a little late as we had a crash test on Alto, i10 and Nano is Jan 2014. Reference: http://www.thehindu.com/business/Ind...cle5638517.ece

I'm all for safety, but I'm worried about the effectiveness of Airbags as many people don't wear a seatbelt. In this case, it does more harm than protect.

Also, what about the old cars?

[Burn_out]

Great news !!! You can't put a price on your family's safety.
But with the improvements in safety kits in vehicles what is the government's plan to improve the drivers' awareness. We have a lot of drivers that do not go through any formal training (at times no training at all) before getting their licences. What good is an Airbag for a guy who has no idea of safe braking distances, use of high-beam / cellphones and basic signalling ?

[sheldon4888]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further. We request you to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[Carpainter]

Finally a welcome move. It has been long overdue here in India. I think they could have included ESP in that list as well.

[charanreddy]

I am glad that the govt has finally woken up and mandated ABS and Airbags. It should follow it up with educating citizens about road safety, especially wearing seat belts even in most remote of areas. Like Swatch Bharath, there should be Surakshit Bharath..

Hope the govt. does some thing to hold manufacturers accountable for defective products, recalling cars and fixing issues as they arise. I have read multiple threads on Team BHP itself where India was not a part of the global recall for many popular cars.

[SedatedDrive]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

I'm totally against any retrospective government orders putting me in trouble. Fine go ahead and implement the wonderful decision of mandatory safety features. However, once I buy stuff it's mine and nobody tells me what to do with it. There are more important things that the government should pay attention to.

Don't even get me started on the post 15 years green tax and PUC . All know both are resulting in headache for non polluting and law abiding citizens and are self contradicting.

So no, I'm against retrospective update to my car because the government was impotent in 2010.

Let us not be hasty in our conclusions. The idea is to ensure road safety for all. The onus is being placed on the manufacturers to make amends and provide the standard safety fitments. No amount of trouble should be an obstacle when the subject matter is about safety. Let us not defend and justify the mistakes that have been made - manufacture, buying and selling of cars without the right safety equipments.

This law is the right step forward. Especially the part about the retrospective correction in safety features will save lives!

[joe_antony]

Originally Posted by SumitBahl

Finally!!!
Government has made it mandatory to all cars to have Airbags, ABS, child restraint system, seat belt reminders and reinforced body structures by October 2015.

Government will give manufacturers two years to quip all cars sold before 2015 with these features, i.e till 2017.

Source & Full Article:

This is awesome news. I am someone who does not like spending on luxury, but want all safety measures when buying a car. So far there was no option for such a combination. If you want ABS, Airbags and other safety features, you have to pay of all the unnecessary luxury gizmos those one least bothers. This is a great news for Indian car buyers.

[lalittalwar]

great news!!! airbags and ABS are basic safety equipment and must have in cars these days. I have bought cars without these safety equipment, but never again. Our way of thinking usually is that we spend a slight bit more to go up the segment and are satisfied with a lesser equipped car as buying a car from a higher segment is prestigious, but in turn put our lives at risk. With this rule, safety will atleast get a boost, though we shuould have gone the europe way and made ESP also mandatory.

[Sandm4n]

Somewhere along the lines, we as consumers have also been trying to take our safety for granted. We would opt for cheaper variants rather than investing in a little more dough for the variants with ABS.

Well, now this is going to be brilliantly difficult for such folks to bypass and save some cash.

[turbodude]

This is a welcome move from department of road transport. However, before implementing this; the govt. must ensure that there are good roads to drive. The issue of potholes in Mumbai and toll roads in Maharashtra has been discussed already on the forum. I see trucks driving in top lane every day and I cannot overtake them because there is some unauthorized 3 wheeler standing in slow lane for passengers to alight. This condition is there on all 4 lane highways. First every license holder must learn how to drive on roads. This will reduce fatalities considerably.

Airbags & ABS are required, no doubt in that. But this will not reduce the number of accidents that we witness everyday.

Another issue is cost. I don't think cars will be costlier by 30-35k because once the production will increase then costs will come down drastically.

[Car Architect]

Adding to Airbags and ABS, I would want the manufactures to provide these features in the Basic variants of their cars,

1) Front seat belts with pretensioner and load limiter
2) Adjustable neck restraints for both front and rear passengers (even for the middle one) to help reduces whiplash injury
3) 3-point seat belts for all rear passenger
4) Rear defogger with wipe and wash (very useful in monsoons)
5) EBD should also be provided with ABS
6) Front and rear fog lamps may also be provided

Adding to all of the aforementioned things, the cars must have a proper structural integrity.

The one thing that annoys me the most, LEFT SIDE ORVM is provided as a extra feature in entry level base variants by manufactures

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by joe_antony

If you want ABS, Airbags and other safety features, you have to pay of all the unnecessary luxury gizmos those one least bothers.

Absolutely Joe. Just to get air bags, and ABS, I have to buy an overpriced top spec model which comes with so much chinese gizmos one can do without.

I am sure, manufacturers will start cirbbing about this and try to water down the law.

The Duster RXL 4x4 for example comes with a single air bag, so is the life of the passenger less important or do they expect only one person to be in the front all the time? People who end up making such decisions to install only one airbag for driver should be publicly flogged. He or she is obviously a person who has no regard for his family.