The new safety norms that kicked in from 1 April 2019 and upcoming Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) crash tests ratings in India have led all car makers to upgrade their vehicles. And that’s a good thing, as some of these India-made cars that were crash tested by Global NCAP, have passed with reasonable performance.
The made-in-India Suzuki Ignis that was exported to Africa from Maruti’s Gurugram plant was picked up for a crash test by UK-based Global NCAP as part of its “Safer Cars for Africa” programme. This car, equipped with two air bags as standard, scored three-stars for adult occupant protection and one star for child safety in a 64 Kmph frontal offset crash test.
The Honda Amaze was also tested as part of the same programme and it scored a four-star safety rating for adult occupant protection, but again a lowly 1 star for child safety, owing to likely head injuries for kids strapped in car seats in the rear.
Is this good? No. But it’s a huge improvement on safety standards by Indian cars compared to a couple of years ago. The country has improved on adult occupant safety, while it still has some work to do on child occupant safety.
Some other Indian cars tested earlier this year have also fared pretty well in the Global NCAP crash tests, while a few others just about made the grade. The Tata Nexon was the first car from India to get a five-star adult occupant safety rating, even though it only had 2 airbags and survived a side-impact collision as well at 64 kmph. In child safety it scored 3 stars, which is considered a decent score.
The Mahindra Marazzo also scored four stars for adult occupant safety and two stars for child safety in the Global NCAP tests a few months ago. This is a huge improvement for Mahindra as an Indian manufacturer, whose Scorpio scored zero stars a few years earlier. Both Tata and Mahindra are completely homegrown brands.
Does This Mean Indian Cars Are Safe Now?
Yes, India will now be driving around in safer cars. There’s still some improvement to be done as manufacturers try to meet only the minimum stipulated guidelines. The upcoming BNVSAP crash tests propose to carry out frontal offset crash tests at 64 kmph, which is at par with Global NCAP, Euro NCAP and NHTSA (US crash test) standards. However, the automobile lobby has been pressing hard to push for a lower crash test speed of 56 kmph.
Testing at inferior norms will mean that cars which scored say around two stars in the Global NCAP tests, could easily get a four or five star rating in India. That’s not really presenting an accurate picture of safety, is it? The Maruti Swift, for instance, which is a popular hatchback in India, scored two stars, could benefit if the criteria is less stringent.
The new BNVSAP norms will come into effect in October 2019, by which time the final criteria for the frontal offset tests, side impact tests, pedestrian protection, rear-impact tests and child dummy testing will be in place. Hopefully, by all indications from the automobile industry, it will match global standards and not the inferior criteria proposed by some lobbyists.
This will allow car companies to make cars that are safe, not just for India, but for the world. India, in fact, already has pushed through norms for safety that are ahead of requirements in other countries. These include things like speed warnings at 80 kmph and 120 kmph, seat-belt reminders for driver and front passenger and mandatory reverse parking sensors. Airbags and ABS are standard in most countries.
The question is, despite all these additional safety features in cars, will it bring down road-accident fatalities in India, a country that saw nearly 1.48 lakh people die in 2017 die in more than 4.7 lakh reported accidents?
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