Throwing light on the alarming figures on road traffic crashes , Hashim Sanyal,COO , Consumer Voice, said, "As per the Indian government figures, approximately 146,133 people were killed in road accidents in 2015 alone- averaging an alarming 1,374 crashes per day. Apart from reckless driving, a crucial component to road safety is safer vehicle on our roads. The worrisome part is that, despite being the world's 4th largest automobile market, almost 60% of the cars sold in India aren't equipped with basic safety features such as airbags and ABS which can protect lives if car occupants in a crash"
We need to mention here that car companies like Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mahindra et al have been at the forefront of taking initiatives to make cars safer and while most have made safety equipment standard in cars, others have given the consumer an option for them in the base variant.
Consumer Voice, however, has taken the initiative to show people the consequences of not adhering to safety in India through a film and photo series which highlights the plight of 6 crash victims who lost family members due to the dismal state of vehicle safety. This was followed by a discussion and supplemented by a workshop which included a detailed presentation and an interaction in all 15 states.
Considering that the automotive market is going to grow rapidly in India; it's high time we try and have a strong backbone in the form of a government legislation to back up safety. In fact we saw the Motor Vehicle (amendment bill) 2016 being enforced and that's just a small step in this direction. However, we are far behind government legislations of developed countries which prohibit sales of vehicles that do not meet basic safety standards. The Indian government introduced the Bharat new vehicle assessment programme (BNVSAP) IN 2008, commissioning test facilities, prescribing mandatory basic safety features and regulating car occupant protection-which are planned to be voluntary from October, 2017 and mandatory by October, 2020.
We need more movements like Consumer Voice to draw the government's attention towards safety and yes, there's a lot of work being done in that direction but it's never enough, is it?
