India to make ‘crash test’ a must for all new car launches

From October 2017, India will have safer cars as the Government is finally enforcing stringent crash test norms.

The norms would be mandatory for all new cars from October 2017, whereas the deadline for upgrades of existing models has been set for October 2018.

The new minimum safety norms, including frontal and side crash tests, will be applicable to all cars -entry-level, small and cheaper models.

According to Government’s new order, the cars would be tested for frontal crash norms at 56 kmh and test for side crash test will be at 50 kmh.

The international test norms will be met in both the cases, thereby making vehicles safer for occupants and drivers.

Vehicle experts say that cars need to have airbags and other necessary safety features to pass these tests.

"Airbags and other much demanded safety apparatus would also be standardised in the new cars. Though these are not mandatory, some structural changes, including structural compatibility, would be needed to meet the safety requirements," a senior government official told Economic Times.

Some of the older models, which may not have the required structural strength to meet the new stipulations, could be phased out.

However, it could not be ascertained from the government or car companies on the models that would be phased out. The official added that companies had more than two years to meet the structural strength.

On the lines of New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme (BNVSAP) is likely to judge cars in line with developed market parameters.

The star rating in India drew flak as many of the models fared badly in the independent crash tests conducted by Global NCAP last year.

The norms have been adopted from the best practices across major countries, including Japan, Europe and the US and would be implemented in phases.

As per the financial daily, International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT) at Manesar would be conducting these tests once the required facilities are established.