[satishv1987]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Few more politicians and their kin need to experience the ill effect of 'lack' of safety features before they wake up.

In fact, it was the death of Gopinath Munde in 2014 which forced the Government to accelerate the process of scrapping the existing Motor Vehicles Act & replacing it with the Road Safety and Transport Bill ,2014. It is a real shame that they are now being held hostage by the manufacturers.

[octane_100]

I have a question; may be it turns out to be quite dumb but I want to ask it nevertheless.

Why should cars be made cheaper (at the cost of safety) just so that it is accessible? If they get more expensive so be it!! Today, if I can buy a particular model at X rupees, may be I'll have to downgrade to a lower model with the increase in price, but isn't that better keeping in mind our safety??

[Chetan_Rao]

Though my family has owned Maruti products for close to two decades and I can neither deny the wonderful memories we have of/through using those cars nor the fact that Maruti gave the average Indian access to affordable mobility, I can't help but feel ashamed of having patronized such a company whose leader openly claims that Indians don't need or deserve better vehicles.

All their arguments (design, safety, statistics, cost, blah blah) have been roundly debunked but they still want to drag us back to stone age and keep us there. But they still continue to be market leaders. Why wouldn't they, when 9/10 people in this country rely on the deity on the dashboard to keep them safe, not safety equipment?

Sad and frustrating, but not surprising. And a true case of you get what you deserve if I ever saw one.

P.S. Before someone claims I'm anti-Maruti, I speak from ownership experience, not hearsay. If it still offends you, feel free to replace Maruti with any other brand and the argument is still valid.

[nukeblitz]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that all crash tests must be done to stringent standards and that those ratings must be clearly displayed on all vehicles that are being sold.

However, as a compromise a car needs to only pass a few basic tests to be sold. Let awareness grow organically and cars with poor safety will be organically weeded out just like they have been in several other countries.

[Lalvaz]

Its a shame, but its not unexpected really. In almost any sphere of life, we're given the short stick saying that we pay lesser than what other consumers in developed countries pay. So, be it automobiles, bottled water, electronic appliances, medical care, insurance payouts, housing, roads, any and every sector you name, its the same story. As regards the automobile industry, none of these industry stalwarts actually expects the Indian consumer to stop buying an unsafe automobile or faulty product, simply because there is no real choice available to the Indian consumer. We just have to lump it and deal with it.


For those who claim that we're getting unsafe cars only due to cost, thats a load of nonsense. I checked out the CIAZ, and was really interested in buying one, but guess what, I could not get any crash data for this car. Is it a cheap car? Yes, I know it has airbags, ABS etc..., but where are the unbiased crash test data that I should have access to if I want to purchase a car in a premium segment. Thats really where Maruti should have taken the lead, as it is the market leader - it has the responsibility of setting the benchmark and creating the trends towards safer motoring. However, we all know what they chose to do instead.

I currently own a Maruti Swift Vdi with ABS, and I'm sorry to say that these statements and actions by Maruti leave me depressed, and I will really make it a point not to buy a Maruti car in the future even though I'm in love with their service. Thats my way of protesting, even though I know its an exercise in futility.

[braindead]

What we are seeing here is another example of our sold out politicians and bureaucracy. This is not particularly an Indian problem either. The way I see this game being played, is by pitting two megabucks entities against one another. Maybe the insurance companies will pick the fight for improving safety, thus increasing their profits.

Its a simple thing for them to compile the data from the car crashes that are happening and see what speed the car was doing when a fatal crash happened. That kind of data will make the BS stop.

Unfortunately, I don't see the safety movement being mainstream enough to make any difference in the elections. This translates to us having no say in the safety policies of the government. Hence, the only recourse to big money is big money. The one with the biggest treasury wins. :(

Or we wait for the majority of the consumers to demand for better safety.

[theredliner]

It took the death of a powerful politician in an accident for this new law's process to speed up. As the news of his death is becoming older and older, the motivation of the ministers is also becoming weaker. I feel that the move to bring crash test to India was just a knee jerk reaction due to Munde's death.

Talking about politicians, our transport minister is a guy who rides a scooter without wearing a helmet, that too, when he is being filmed. In other words, he isn't an informed person when it comes to safety. When he doesn't give too hoots about his own safety, it'll be too much to think that his ministry would care about the safety of a billion common people.

Coming to the BNVSAP or whatever this joke is, if the manufacturers are powerful enough to get the government to weaken the rules, what's the guarantee that the manufacturers won't get the concerned people to doctor the results of crash tests or that the crash tests are carried out in a proper way? What credibility will the results of such crash tests hold? How can we trust the results monitored by a common officer/engineer whose power/responsibility is nothing compared to the central ministers?

[speedmiester]

Instead of lobbying for watering down the safety standards, didn't anyone in the panel with a few brain cells considered lobbying for reduction in taxes to compensate for the increase in the cost of safety features?

[satishv1987]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

All their arguments (design, safety, statistics, cost, blah blah) have been roundly debunked but they still want to drag us back to stone age and keep us there. But they still continue to be market leaders.

The day one of them disrupts the market by pricing cars with fully loaded safety features competitively,the rest will automatically fall in line.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by satishv1987

"Higher speed crash tests will make the cars safer, but also costlier. At the same time, it could make the drivers more aggressive as they will think that their cars are safer." - K.K.Gandhi, Dir, SIAM

Awesome... What convenient reasons!

I think they should immediately form a team to dig down potholes on the highways. Even that could help to reduce speed.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Awesome... What convenient reasons!

I think they should immediately form a team to dig down potholes on the highways. Even that could help to reduce speed.

Shhhh...., that is their "secret" strategy to increase consumer safety, but don't say that out loud.

[humyum]

I think the government and car company heads are filled with bunch of idiots, for the simple reason

1) By removing the exercise duty benefit, the prices of cars increased, why not keep the duty benefit and make the manufacturers add safety features for the amount of price that was increased. But the government wants to fill its coffers first.

Secondly

"Says K.K. Gandhi, director, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), “Higher speed crash tests will make the cars safer, but also costlier. At the same time, it could make the drivers more aggressive as they will think that their cars are safer.”

Morons like the one I have quoted above, exist in India. Drivers drive aggressively, what does a car have to do with that ? Just yesterday I saw an Alto K10 racing with a Verna on the freeway and the Alto guy blew the pants out of the Verna. Its nature dependent not car dependent. Mr Gandhi, just say you are hand in glove with the manufacturers, don't need to come up with nonsensical reason

"Obviously, the Indian car industry is united against following global safety standards. Says R.C. Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki India, “Whatever standards you fix, they should not be blindly copied from Europe, but judged in the context of Indian"

^^And this dude wants to increase prices of cars by 20 to 30 grand by adding stickers and colored wheel caps and what not, but instead won't come out with safety features.

And as for Nitin Gadkari, I have just one line to tell him 'Badi badi baatein, vada pav khaatein'

[wildsdi5530]

Suzuki swift in UK costs £12,245 (₹11,38,730.21) and has seven airbags and ESP, front passenger airbag deactivation facility, remote central door locking with deadlocks, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, steering wheel mounted audio controls, 16” Alloy wheels, Automatic air conditioning, Bluetooth integrated audio unit with music streaming capability, electric front and rear windows, push button keyless start, Automatic headlamps, rear privacy glass (five-doormodels) and cruise control as standard in the top end version. Indian Swift costs ₹7,41,317. So 4 lakhs more.
But when you go used, it is a different cup of tea.
On a lighter note, I too have a gem. Most accidents are due to two-wheelers which weave between cars or heavier vehicles. How about the govt. use some of the exorbitant tax that they collect to make all motorcycles 100 BHP+? Thus they would be able to zip between heavier vehicles faster and thus escape away.

[D4D]

Easiest thing to do: Implement slightly older EURO NCAP standards. The way to make a start.

Most manufacturers(except some home grown ones) sell the same cars abroad with more (sometimes) airbags and electronic aids to pass crash tests. Safe to say that most structures are fairly strong. (A few exceptions here)

If Toyota and VW can sell all their cars with airbags irrespective of trims, the other manufacturers can. They have to take the step.

[H_Dogg72]

Originally Posted by D4D

Easiest thing to do: Implement slightly older EURO NCAP standards. The way to make a start.

Most manufacturers(except some home grown ones) sell the same cars abroad with more (sometimes) airbags and electronic aids to pass crash tests. Safe to say that most structures are fairly strong. (A few exceptions here)

If Toyota and VW can sell all their cars with airbags irrespective of trims, the other manufacturers can. They have to take the step.

Currently, Toyota and VW(Skoda) have pretty safe cars. It is only VW who introduced ESP in cars <15L.
This watering down was inevitable I guess.
Hyundai used to offer Asta(O) on the i20 and Verna with 6 Airbags. Now, it isn't available on the i20 and the verna gets projector lights instead.
Many cars have poor structures and airbags won't do any good to them, I believe it is those manufacturers that are against the crash test norms.
Nissan/Datsun will have to re-engineer
Maruti will have to re-engineer
Hyundai needs to add only airbags apart from the weak nano.
Tata, The nano passed the euroNCAP with an airbag and some structural mods.
Fiat=Pass with airbags
Ford=Pass with airbags
VW/Skoda=Pass
Toyota=Pass
We have a consumer base who would rather spend 60k on accessories than on a model with safety features (A guy I know did this, Swift Desire VDi+60k)
Every time I have my friends at the backseat, It takes 5 mins for them to buckle up, they act so confused regarding buckling up at the rear, sometimes I even have to get out and help (read:force) them into doing it.
There is a lack of awareness about these things, I mean come on, I see 5/10 cars with their mirrors closed.

**If one wants to buy an automatic Celerio/Gi10/Zest he can't get airbags or ABS in it (Apart from zest for ABS). Atleast give the consumer some options.