Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari has asked car manufacturers to start providing more safety to even small and less expensive cars. Indian cars are famously behind their global counterparts in the terms of safety features. Companies that sell the same car in different markets also miss out on some key security features when launched in India.
Gadkari on Sunday said that small cars, mostly purchased by lower-middle-class people, should also have an adequate number of airbags and wondered why automakers are providing eight airbags only in big cars bought by rich people. The Union Minister also emphasized that his appeal for more airbags in small economy cars was to ensure safety and prevent possible deaths in accidents. His remarks come against the backdrop of the automobile industry raising concerns that high taxation and stricter safety and emission norms for vehicles have made their products expensive.
Mostly, lower-middle-class people buy small economy cars and “if their car won’t have airbags and when accidents happen, then it may result in deaths. So, I appeal to all car manufacturers to provide a minimum of six airbags across all variants and segments of the vehicle,” he said. While acknowledging that additional airbags in small cars will increase their cost by at least Rs 3,000-4,000, Gadkari also said, “in our country, poor should also get protection, in case of road accidents”.
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