Nitin Gadkari at Forefront for Six-Airbags Rule: Promises to make it mandatory by end of the year

Nitin Gadkari, since the death of Cyrus Mistry, has been at the forefront of bringing the six-airbags rule mandatory to all car manufacturing companies in India. He is sure that by the end of the year, this rule will be mandatory to follow.

The world's deadliest roads are in India, and the country's road transport minister hopes to finalize regulations requiring all automobiles to have six airbags by the end of the current fiscal year.

After Cyrus Mistry, the former head of the Indian giant Tata Sons, died in a car accident on Sunday, the discussion about road safety erupted in the world's fourth-largest auto market. The draught guidelines were released to the public in January and were scheduled to be finalized a month later, but some automakers oppose them because they claim this will raise vehicle prices.

Nitin Gadkari said at his home on Wednesday that the government also intends to mandate that auto manufacturers install an alert system for rear seat belts to enforce their use and will audit all national highways to make them safer.

Nitin Gadkari said that the six-airbags rule will be finalized by the end of this year and added, "Life safety is important for all people."

By the end of 2024, Gadkari said he hoped the initiatives will reduce traffic fatalities and accidents by half. According to Gadkari, nearly 500,000 traffic incidents resulted in more than 150,000 fatalities in India in 2021. According to government statistics, more than 133,000 people died in 355,000 traffic accidents in 2020. In India, 3 million automobiles are sold annually, and 13% of fatalities in 2020 were caused by passengers in cars. Airbags and seat belts would have helped at least one-third of the 39,000 individuals who died in car accidents in 2020 from head-on or side crashes avoid death.

Already required are two airbags: one for the driver and one for the front passenger. According to official estimates, it wouldn't cost more than $75 to add four additional airbags. However, according to JATO Dynamics, a source of auto industry statistics, expenses could rise by at least $231.

Gadkari went on to say that if cars exported from India to several other countries are provided and fitted with six airbags then why can we not easily transition towards six-airbags usage in our own country? He added that "We have asked car makers to be quality conscious, not cost-conscious."

Gadkari stated that the administration intends to increase lane discipline and will speak with other state ministers about how to lower highway speeds.

Gadkari asserted that while stronger regulations alone won't be helpful, the government is attempting to find ways to enforce them. One option is to raise the penalties for non-compliance.

He said, "There is no respect for the law and there is no fear of non-compliance. If people still don't improve we will have to be stricter".