In a recent development, the government has made airbags mandatory from 1st April because safety comes first. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, on Friday issued a notification making it mandatory for all new models to keep safety of passengers at first and to have dual airbags installed for them.
The new norms of safety are applicable on all new models of cars from April 1, 2021. For older models to adhere to this guideline of safety, Centre has given time till August 31, 2021. This mandate is based upon the suggestions of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety.
In a major development, airbags will be mandatory for front-seat passengers in new vehicles starting from 1 April. Previously the carmakers were only required to provide airbags for the driver seat. Leaving the passenger sitting in the front seat completely vulnerable caused the passenger sitting a constant fear of severe injury or even death in case the car met with an accident but officials are now concerned about safety and therefore seek an improvement.
In December last year, the government made a public announcement on a proposal to make airbags mandatory for both the front passenger in all cars from this year onwards, a move that could increase costs for the automaker which sees a gradual revival in demand. This move is anticipated to increase the prices of cars in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 on average.
The front airbags for the driver’s seat have been made mandatory from July 2019. Now Centre has made it mandatory for cars to have an airbag installed for the passenger side as well.
The importance of Airbags are quite well known to everyone, they inflate extremely quickly upon collision and then deflate, creating a cushion for the passengers to deal with the sudden vehicle stop. Airbags are known to increase the chances of survival during accidents.
Low-cost findings such as speed alerts, reverse parking sensors, and seat-belt reminders have become standard features in most cars, but life-saving airbags were still not made mandatory. Happy news, as can be looked upon with this notification, now Safety is also a necessity.
In the earlier draft proposal, it was stated that the Centre is planning to implement a standard for all new models of cars manufactured from 1 April 2021 and for pieces that are already made, the date for complying with the new rule is proposed June 1, 2021.
