Nitin Gadkari said the proposal for six airbags in cars shall be implemented from October 2023
The Union government has decided to defer the implementation of the six-airbag safety rule for passenger cars in India until October next year. This was announced by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today. The rule will be implemented from October 1, 2023.
The government had earlier planned to make six airbags mandatory in all eight-seater vehicles for enhanced safety from October 1, 2022.
An airbag interferes between the driver and the vehicle's dashboard during a collision, thereby preventing serious injuries.
"Considering the global supply chain constraints being faced by the auto industry and its impact on the macroeconomic scenario, it has been decided to implement the proposal mandating a minimum of 6 Airbags in Passenger Cars (M-1 Category) w.e.f 01st October 2023," Mr Gadkari tweeted today.
"Safety of all passengers travelling in motor vehicles irrespective of their cost and variants is the foremost priority," the minister said.
Commenting on the government's decision to defer the six-airbag rule, Clyde Crasto, the Spokesperson for Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), tweeted: "Safety of all passengers in cars is a priority irrespective of their cost, therefore cars with 6 #airbags mandatory from Oct 2023. But not everyone can afford this variant and since 'safety is a priority', will Gadkari ji ask government to give a subsidy?"
On January 14, 2022, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued a draft notification that made it mandatory for all vehicles of the M1 category, manufactured after October 1, 2022, to be fitted with six airbags.
On September 6, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had highlighted the importance of seatbelts in a car and said that it would be mandatory for all the passengers in a car to wear them.
Sharing a video from an event, the Union Minister said that seatbelts will be mandated.
"It will now be mandatory for all the people sitting in the car to wear a seat belt," tweeted Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
In the video, he also highlighted that safety beeps will now be present for rear seats as well, along with the front seats, which will buzz if one doesn't put them on.
His remarks came after well-known industrialist and former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry died in a road accident near Mumbai earlier this month. There were reports that Mr Mistry was not wearing the seat belt on the rear seat of the car he was travelling in.
Last year, Mr Gadkari had told news agency PTI that small cars, mostly purchased by lower middle-class people, should also have an adequate number of airbags and had wondered why automakers were providing eight airbags only in big cars bought by the rich.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), more than1.55 lakh lives were lost in road crashes across India in 2021 - an average of 426 daily or 18 every single hour - which is the highest death figures recorded in any calendar year so far.