New vehicles will be mandated to go through the crash test program from 1st October 2017 onwards, while the testing facilities need to be ready by December 2015.
Informing the Lok Sabha, the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, GM Siddeshwara stated that crash test for new vehicles will be mandatory from 1st October, 2017 onwards and the test facilities as well as equipment need to be ready by December 2015. The compliance will be enforced as per crash standards AIS 098 and AIS 099 and will also be mandatory for existing vehicles from 1st October, 2019.
In addition, the minister also stated that the Global NCAP gave a presentation in Delhi that proved that some of the cars manufactured in India are not safe, when subjected to offset crash test. Earlier this year, a range of India made popular vehicles were subjected to crash tests by the Global NCAP receiving zero stars. In the more recent months, the very popular Maruti Suzuki Swift also failed the test, while the all-new Datsun GO was heavily criticized after the results found the model to falter in structural rigidity.
However, the failed crash tests results did bring the issue of safety to the masses with the government also taking notice. The ministry of Road Transport & Highway (MoRTH) has constituted a committee for creating an India specific New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), aka Bharat NCAP. Based on the crash results the new vehicles will be given a star rating. Apart from four-wheelers, there have been recent reports of making ABS mandatory on two-wheelers which are powered by an engine bigger than 125cc.
