Recently, the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) tested five made in India cars, all of them scoring a 0 star rating while the only exception was the Toyota Etios that scored a 4 star rating. Now, as the Indian automobile safety conference is currently underway, the country is set to receive its own car assessment programme which is known as the Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP).
Under the new car safety programme that is scheduled to begin from next year, automobile manufacturers will have to voluntarily get safety ratings for their vehicles. The Global NCAP judges the safety aspects of a car based on various aspects such as frontal, side and rear impacts as well as pedestrian and child safety.
An official from the road transport ministry said that since the traffic situations faced in India are different, the norms would also stand to differ. He further went on to add that manufacturers would have to comply with the mandatory norms for the crash tests.
Unlike the Global NCAP, where vehicles are given a safety rating on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, the BNVSAP will have a safety rating in the range of 0.5 to 4.5 stars for vehicles that pass the frontal tests at a speed of 56 km/hr. The speed for side impacts will be set at 50 km/hr. Only the vehicles that pass the frontal crash tests at a speed of 64 km/hr will receive a 5 star rating.
Also read: Global NCAP crash disaster : Indian auto industry’s response is rhetorical as ever
India is likely to be the first country to address the issue of pedestrian protection in the event of a crash involving a car. Additional features such as a warning beep at the speed of 80 km/hr and a loud alert after the 100 km/hr mark to check the concern of speeding would assist the vehicle in receiving a higher rating.