Pedestrian safety norms to be mandatory in India from October 2020
Road accidents in India have been a matter of concern considering the high number of fatalities that happen, with almost 1.5 lakh deaths with 60 per cent of them pedestrians. So, a new pedestrian safety software will get compulsory for all cars beginning from October 2020, to enhance the safety of people on road. The software consists of peripheral sensors in the front part of the vehicle, that will sense any sudden impact on the vehicle and activate the airbag control unit which uses infrared technology to detect a possible accident. The actuator converts the electrical energy into motion to lift the engine hood to absorb the crash energy. This helps to protect the pedestrian from coming in contact with the engine by creating a safe layer in between.
The consumer mindset is now more conscious of safety, which was earlier towards the cost and brand. Some of the safety features such as electronic stability control (ESC) and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) will be incorporated in new vehicles by 2022. However, it is a concern for manufacturers to bring all the safety features in their vehicle without a significant increase in the overall cost of the vehicle.
Compared to the US and UK, India has been lagging in terms of automotive safety standards, but now the government has been proactively issuing a host of new uncompromising regulations and upgrading the existing ones to reduce the road fatalities and make the passenger as well as pedestrian safer than before. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) says, 60 per cent of the people killed in road accidents every year are pedestrians. Due to this, legal requirements and consumer protection tests for pedestrian protection have become significantly stricter in recent years across the world.
