India likely to get car safety norms in 4 to 5 years

The Indian car market has long been known to have some issues with meeting safety regulations. That hasn’t changed, but it is becoming more of an issue with the India based car makers starting to move towards global regulations that will increase the safety of their vehicles, especially during crashes.

While they have not yet met these regulations there are improved standards they will have to meet starting in 2017.

Within the next 4-5 years the government will ensure vehicles provide basic safety in line with global standards for adult occupants, children and pedestrians. While minimum frontal crash test norms at 56 kmph will be notified, the government also intends to roll out a complete new car assessment program between October 2017 and October 2020.

The Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme (BNVSAP) will be brought in force and mandatory star rating of all new cars will start from October 2017. This will be done based on test results for frontal and rear tests. The other features to be considered include anti-lock braking system (ABS), seat belt reminder and child lock functionality check. A road transport ministry official said that they will come out with regulatory norms which every new vehicle will have to meet before products are sold in the market.

However, the implementation will start after three years since automobile manufacturers need lead time for transition.

The transition of existing models to comply with new norms will take more time since companies need to change their assembly lines and product designs. The program will be implemented in three phases.

Officials said these norms can be implemented when there are enough facilities in the country to carry out such tests. Nitin Gokarn, CEO and project director of National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project said that facilities for different crash tests will be in place by March 2015. “These facilities will be upgraded to keep pace with the latest global technology advancements,” he added. India likely to get car-safety norms in 4-5 years

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