In an attempt to make Indian roads safer, the government has been undertaking various road safety initiatives. This time around, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is considering introducing rear parking sensors as a standard feature on all new vehicles. The new safety feature will come in addition to the mandatory airbags regulation which will be effective soon.
Emphasizing on the need for rear parking sensor. Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said that the current rear view mirrors are adequate to only detect vehicles behind a car, but it fails to detect small children and other objects on 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 speed of 80kmph. This function will come on similar lines as the seat belt warning system.
Additionally, two-wheelers in the country 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 Driving Licence test will also become automated by that time. This will help in reducing fatal road accidents.”
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill will also be introduced in winter session of the parliament, which will have provisions to legally protect good Samaritans who help accident victims. Last year, the country’s roads witnessed highest number of fatalities – 1.46 lakh, which is about 400 lives lost every day. Owing to the new regulations likely to come in place soon, the number of fatalities on Indian roads is likely to come down considerably in future.
