[sustran] Passive Safety in The Automotive Sector of India

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.washingtonbanglaradio.com/content/123799511-passive-safety-automotive-sector-india


Passive Safety in The Automotive Sector of India
News - Automotive
New Delhi, Dec 5, 2011 (Washington Bangla Radio / PIB India) In the
automotive sector parlance, passive safety features refer to systems
designed to minimise injury to the occupants in the event of a crash as
against active  safety systems that help drivers avoid accidents.  It is
important to equip a vehicle with both active and passive safety features.

The Automotive Industry in India has been one of the key drivers of
economic growth, with a CAGR of over 15% during the last 7 years.  In
2010-11, the total turnover of the Industry  stood at USD 73 Billion (Rs.
3,27,300 cr.) and its contribution to the Manufacturing GDP and the excise
duty was 22% and 21% respectively.  Today, India is the largest
manufacturer of tractors, second largest manufacturer of two  wheelers, 5th
largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles and is an emerging global
automotive hub.  The Indian automotive sector is now widely recognized for
its enormous potential to be a growth engine and propel the country on a
high growth path.

While the growth story, both in retrospect and prospect, sounds impressive
and exciting, it also poses several areas of concern and challenges.
Increasing urbanization and motorization, rapid development of road
infrastructure, introduction of faster vehicles and the changing driving
pattern have brought to the fore the problem of  increasing number of
injuries and mortalities resulting from road traffic accidents.  As per an
estimate, about 125,000 people die and 450,000 get injured in India every
year due to Road Traffic accidents.

Road Traffic Accident which used to be the tenth among the top ten causes
of mortality in the country two decades back, is projected to occupy the
fifth position in the list of major killers in the year 2020.  Some of the
factors that increase the risk of road crashes in  India are unsafe traffic
environment, poor road infrastructure, increasing number of motorized
vehicles, lack of safety engineering measures and unsafe driving
behaviour.  Improving prevention and mitigation of road traffic incidents
in a low-income country like India will help to better use its scarce
resources.

Road Safety is a multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional issue encompassing
the development and managementof road infrastructure, design of safer
vehicles, legislation and law enforcement, mobility planning, urban land
use planning etc.  In other words, its ambit spans engineering aspects of
both roads and vehicles on one hand and the provision of post crash
healthcare on the other.

World over, Nations have initiated various measures towards their
commitment to check fatalities due to road accidents by way
of improvement of roads, vehicle design, strengthening of active and
passive safety systems and campaigns regarding safe driving.

Under the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project
(NATRiP), three crash labs are being set up where vehicles will be tested
for their crash worthiness.  With the commissioning of these crash labs by
2012, India will be equipped to design, develop and certify vehicles which
conform to newly evolving safety standards.  Notification for new crash
regulations are under formulation.   Crash test ratings will also generate
awareness among the buyers to make informed decision on buying a vehicle
keeping in view the safety features of the vehicle.

It is now required to incorporate latest technologies and safety
regulations to ensure reduction of road traffic injuries through
passive safety measures in particular.  The emphasis is to make Indian
roads much safer.

- PIB Features, with inputs from M/o Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises