NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that the government has agreed to implement the proposal mandating 6 airbags in passenger car only beginning on October 1, 2023. Gadkari mentioned the difficulties in the car industry's worldwide supply chain and how they affected the macroeconomic situation. The safety of all passengers travelling in motor vehicles, regardless of their cost and variations, is taken as the top priority.
Earlier this year, October 1 was the cutoff date for putting into effect the requirement for six airbags. Earlier it was reported that the government would probably miss the deadline of October 1 for enforcing the law requiring six airbags in every car. We are still in discussions with the stakeholders and want safer cars on the roads as soon as possible, sources said.
In a draught notification released in January of this year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways suggested that passenger cars or cars in category M1 manufactured after October 1, 2022, "shall be carried with two side/side torso airbags, one for each person occupying front row outboard seating positions, and two side curtain/tube airbags, one for each person occupying outboard seating positions, adding up to six airbags per car."
A passenger restraint system known as an airbag acts as a barrier between the driver and the dashboard of the car during a collision and helps to prevent serious injuries.
Airbags were always a top priority for the Center, but they received even more importance after the recent death of Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, the former chairman of Tata Sons, in a car accident on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route. Mistry and former KPMG director Jehangir Pandole were seated in the rear seat. Mistry and Pandole were unable to survive because they had not fastened their seat belts or let the airbags go off, but the driver and the other passenger in the front seat did.
A fine of around Rs 1,000 may be imposed on passengers in the back seat who are not wearing seat belts in accordance with Rule 138(3) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR). According to the regulation, "It shall be guaranteed that the driver and the person sat in the front seat wear the seat belts while the vehicle is in motion in all motor vehicles in which seat belts have been provided."
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