Growing concern over road safety in India has resulted in road safety initiatives being enforced by the government. As per a fresh update, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is considering introducing rear parking sensors as a standard feature on all new vehicles. This will come in addition to the mandatory airbags regulation which will be effective soon onwards.
Abhay Damle , Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) pointed out that the current rear view mirrors are adequate only to detect vehicles behind a car, but it fails to detect small children and other objects closer to the ground. The rear view sensor will solve this issue and help in saving lives. He also pointed out that over 50,000 lives were lost due to over speeding. Therefore, the road Ministry is also planning on introducing beep sound warning system that alerts the driver at a speed of 80kmph. This function will come on similar lines as the seat belt warning system.
The two-wheelers will also have to mandatorily offer anti-lock braking system (ABS) or the combined braking system (CBS) by April 2019. Damle further added, “From October 1, 2018 all vehicles will have to go in for automated inspection and fitness certification test with hardly any human intervention, similarly the Driving Licence test will also become automated by that time. This will help in reducing fatal road accidents.”
Additionally, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, which will be introduced in the winter session of the Parliament,a will have provisions to legally protect good Samaritans who help accident victims. 2015 witnessed the highest number of fatalities – 1.46 lakh, which is about 400 lives lost every day on Indian roads. With the new regulations likely to come in place soon, the number of fatalities on Indian roads is likely to come down considerably.
