According to National Crime Records Bureau data, India had recorded 3,74,397 accidental deaths in 2020, of which 35% was due to road crash. Road accidents are the combined results of reckless driving, poor road design and qualities and lack of safety features in vehicles. Despite the government regulations, standards laws and safety orders to car companies, India continues to meet with lakhs of fatal deaths in car accidents.
Nitin Gadkari’s Pledge to Make Indian Roads Safe
A day after the death of former Tata Sons Chairman, Cyrus Mistry, in a road accident, the Minister of Road and Transport, Nitin Gadkari said that his government is working to make safer highways by redesigning roads, mandating six airbags in cars and improving seat belt compliances.
While expressing condolences for death of Cyrus Mistry, he said, “The accident of Cyrus Mistry is very unfortunate and he was a very good friend of mine. It is a great shock to the country. The problem is that every year we have 5 lakh accidents and one lakh deaths in the country”.
Speaking at IAA’s Global Summit in Delhi, he said, “we have taken a lot of decisions by mandating six airbags in cars and are in the process of making a law for that”.
He exposed the double standards of companies on security by stating, “A lot of our companies are exporting their vehicles from India with six airbags. But when the same vehicles are sold in India, they have just four airbags. Is there no value of life for the people of our country”.
About redesigning roads, he said, “The DPR of the roads are defective, so we have taken a lot of strict action now. We are taking a lot of decisions related to the curves and identifying black spots”.
Death of Cyrus Mistry- Mandatory use of seatbelts
Cyrus Mistry and Jehangri Pandole, Director at KPMG Global Strategy Group, were killed in a car accident on National Highway 48 while traveling from Gujarat to Mumbai. Reports suggest that “the two deceased seated in the back were not wearing seat belts due to which their airbags didn’t deploy. When the car crashed, they got jammed between the front and back seats”.
Because the two deceased were not wearing seat belts, the impact forced them forward and they became trapped between the front and back seats. In India, the current rules require only those in the front row of an automobile to wear two seat belts. Given the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has stated that an official notification mandating the use of seat belts for all passengers will be issued within the next three days.
While talking about the same, the Minister said. “Earlier, there was a penalty for not wearing a seat belt for the driver and co-passenger only, but we have updated the law to include rear seat passengers as well”.
Car Companies Safety Negligence
The car that crashed was a Premium Mercedes and therefore, the death of Cyrus Mistry has raised major concerns regarding the safety features of automobiles. If exclusive brands like Mercedes can provide the bare minimum safety, then the condition of other sub-premium vehicles can only be imagined.
In 2016, a crash test conducted by Global New Car Assessment Programme stated that a number of car models in India failed to meet international safety standards. The tested cars were Maruti, Hyundai, Mahindra and Renault. According to the test results, the majority of the models lack basic safety equipment such as airbags, and all models received zero ratings for structural stability.
Describing the very low safety standards in Indian cars, the GNCAP had recommended withholding the launch of those cars that do not perform the minimum test of safety. Dilapidated road conditions, intense traffic, unregulated traffic rules, and unskilled drivers are major cause of accidents. But, the critical factor that results in fatal accidents is the unavailability of safety standards.
In order to reduce the input cost and maintain competitiveness in the car market, car manufacturers compromise on major security features like obligated airbags, anti-lock braking system, electronic brakeforce distribution, electronic stability control, speed warning, tyre pressure monitoring and strong seat belts.
Also Read: Course, Career, Controversies – The Life and Legacy of Cyrus Mistry
However, the most common cause of deadly accidents is a lack of safety requirements. Car manufacturers compromise on major security features such as required airbags, anti-lock braking systems, electronic brake-force distribution, electronic stability control, speed warning, tyre pressure monitoring, and strong seat belts in order to reduce input costs and maintain competitiveness in the car market.
In the economic race to sell cars, neither the government imposes strict regulations on safety features, nor do manufacturers take responsibility for their customers’ safety. Both government and car companies are interested in making money while ignoring the safety obligations of their people. Nitin Gadkari’s pledges to completely change the safety regulations and revamp the roads to make them safer.
Support TFI:
Support us to strengthen the ‘Right’ ideology of cultural nationalism by purchasing the best quality garments from TFI-STORE.COM
Also Watch:
