[anjan_c2007]

In India, during the last five years a few safety features have been made mandatory apart from the existing ones. These include dual airbags for front passengers, seat belt alert, speed alerts, ABS, and rear parking sensors.

The government needs to reduce GST on car safety devices and features to make these more affordable rather than always shout from the rooftops that we are losing 150,000 or more lives every year due to road accidents. Sermons come by too easily but "walking the talk" is more preferable.

Safety features like four/six or more airbags, EBD, seat belt tensioners, collision warning, tyre pressure monitoring system, adaptive cruise control, hill start assist feature , adaptive headlights, electronic stability control, ISOFIX for child safety seats, driver alert system and more are provided by some car makers in their higher to top variants.

Toyota has since 2016 made ABS and EBD standard safety features in all its cars:-

https://autoportal.com/news/abs-and-...ndia-6735.html

The hoopla by our Transport Minister over six airbags being made mandatory for each and every car manufactured and sold in India since the Cyrus Mistry accident has faded almost into oblivion as of now. The Transport Minister has clarified while inaugurating the Auto Expo 2023 that car makers need to, on their own add safety features including more airbags, but the government will not make them mandatory.

As a rule, car makers link the top variants with the maximum safety features available in their bin for that model. These command a much higher premium over the base model and also come with lots of bells and whistles of the loaded kind.

The point to be made clear here is that I may not prefer those ornamental bells and whistles that come with the top variant. But I would be very much like to buy a base variant that has more safety features. I would be interested in the best safety features in my base or base +1/2/3 model/s.

Hence, safety features provided or opted for need to be totally de linked with top variants. Whatever safety features are available in the bin for a particular model of the car maker needs to be made optionally made available for the entire range of that particular model. The customer needs to be given the option of choosing the safety features he prefers for his new car. Like for instance, one buys a base variant and prefers six airbags his requirement needs to be catered to by the carmaker, if the top variant also comes with six airbags.

Such options may play spoilsport for car makers with their top variant sales figures that in turn are linked with their turnover and profits. They need to go by their conscience and ask themselves how many precious lives could be saved by them with such a decision? And their larger margins earned through very good safety device sales could very well indemnify their losses due to lower top variant sales.

A discussion on the topic would be welcome from fellow teambhpians.

[Rohan265]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The Transport Minister has clarified while inaugurating the Auto Expo 2023 that car makers need to, on their own add safety features including more airbags, but the government will not make them mandatory.

This is a big announcement. However, I could not find any articles online on this. Can you share the source?

In my opinion, safety features should never be optional as it relies on the assumption that the average car buyer is well aware of the benefits of each safety feature. Most buyers choose features that sound good or are suggested by the car salesman. In addition, apart from safety features, most top variants have many comfort features and other bells and whistles that are more likely to be chosen by many car buyers. I know many people who would rather choose a sunroof than 6 airbags or ESC.

If true, the announcement you mention above is a big step backward for car safety. The government has to mandate safety features across all variants. Some essential safety features such as three-point belts and adjustable headrests on all seats can be mandated soon as I doubt there is much cost involved in providing those.

If cost is an issue, the government can also use real-world crash data to check which safety feature provides the most benefit and mandate them. For e.g. If data shows that ESC or rear seat belt reminders will reduce more fatalities than 6 airbags, mandate them first across all variants. Keep others optional. That is how all safety features were first introduced in the western markets. Three-point belts, airbags, ABS, etc are common now because they were mandated by US and European govts in the 70 to 90s period. Car companies are businesses first and will always look to pad their bottom lines given the option.

P.S. Going slightly off-topic here but if the government was really interested in bringing down road crash fatalities, they would pay more attention to those that are facing more risks (vulnerable road users) than focus on car features. In fact, if the 2021 govt data on car crashes are considered, people dying outside cars (vulnerable road users) are more than people dying in cars. Yet, there is hardly talk of making car bodies more forgiving for pedestrians/cyclists/motorcyclists.

[McLaren Rulez]

Indeed, this is the correct rule that the government should enact. If any version of the car has six airbags, so should every version. Similar stuff for rear wash and wipe, three point seatbelts, etc.

It's pretty annoying to have to shell out extra for a stupid glass roof or an air purifier if I want a safe car.

[GTO]

ABS has been made compulsory in India, along with a driver-side airbag, seatbelt reminder, 80 / 120 kmph speed warnings & rear parking sensors. The government is moving in the right direction .

Next up:

1. Make ESP compulsory, like in the USA, Canada & EU since approximately 10 years. I know this will happen soon. ESP can be a lifesaver in an emergency driving condition and is easier to implement on existing cars than 6 airbags.

2. 6 airbags compulsory. This was already planned for Oct 2022, but has been pushed down to 2023 to give manufacturers time to modify their cars, arrange supplies, chips etc. Oct 2023 still looks a bit optimistic to me, although it will happen sometime for sure.

Points 1 & 2 are not a matter of "if"; it's a matter of "when".

[vaibhav_a_a]

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment. By extension, companies should also plan for lower priced EV car. Caring for the environment is not the preserve of the wealthy - just as safety features are not deserved by the few. The other thread on retrofitting existing cars led me to look up some more moderately priced options https://e-vehicleinfo.com/top-6-elec...s-with-price/- a push (even more visibility that such a thing is possible) would be a step in the right direction as well.

[Rajeevraj]

I think there has been significant movement in this space. There was a time until even ~5-6 years back when even 2 airbags were only available in the top model. Entry cars did not even have Airbags/ABS. Now, of course due to the law, even entry cars have 1/2 airbags and as you the next segment and above, things like dual airbags/ABS etc have become standard. A lot of models give 4/6 airbags, ABS, ESP, Hill Assist, Hill Hold and bunch of other things across the range or in the worst case at least in both mid and top variants.

So we are at a stage where the base safety features are available across the range for pretty much all vehicles and starting the B segment, most models have all offered safety features on majority of the variants. That is significant progress in a country where safety features have never traditionally been a priority.

Still a long way to go, but in my view, we have moved past the stage where safety features are focused only on the top variants.

Edit: Of course, the other aspect is that the features themselves are evolving, new safety features are coming up and it first needs to trickle through to the mass segment and then become a standard. ADAS can be taken as an example. It is just come into the mass segment, currently only a top end feature and will take time to become standard. If such features are accelerated or made optional extras, it will benefit customers a great deal

[JoshMachine]

Beyond a point, I believe the "economics" of safety comes into the picture. There's also the so-called perception of differentiation among variants and models.
Hence the manufacturers get inclined to offer the very best of safety in only the very top end models.

But as pointed out by others, the Govt has indeed taken some right steps in this direction. And this is likely to continue what with Bharat NCAP also joining this mandatory safety regimen.

Hoping conversations like the below will be a thing of the past soon:-

[The Rationalist]

Originally Posted by Rohan265

This is a big announcement. However, I could not find any articles online on this. Can you share the source?

https://youtu.be/1a30sPLgkPw

Please listen from 22.40 onwards. It’s a casual remark, not sure whether he meant that 6 airbags rule wouldn’t be implemented. I hope he doesn’t backtrack on that. 4 extra airbags would at the most cost ₹25,000 per vehicle including the changes required to be made in vehicle structure. That would translate to around ₹500 increase in EMI. If it saves at least a 1000 lives (1%) of the 1,50,000 lives lost on our roads, I would say it is worth it.

[prajwalmr62]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

If it saves at least a 1000 lives (1%) of the 1,50,000 lives lost on our roads, I would say it is worth it.

The problem is, most of the fatalities are the bikers and pedestrians. So, do not expect a reduction in fatality count because of the increase in car safety alone.

I do not see any action being taken against improving highway safety, improving average driving skills, improving road awareness. So, doing nothing but arm-twisting car manufacturers will get one only so far.

It does not cost much to add Lane Assist, Brake Assist, and other features in current cars and trucks. I would any day support enforcing these crash avoidance technologies.