Car crash testing of vehicles will now take place in the country, after a long wait, the government is going to launch the India NCAP today. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will launch the Bharat New Car Assessment Program (BNCAP) today. The program is an important step in the government’s commitment to improve road safety by raising safety standards for motor vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes in India.
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Until now, the crash testing of cars made in the country was done by Global NCAP. GNCAP ratings determine how safe a car is for passengers, but in many ways the global NCAP rating is not suited to Indian conditions. That is why now India is going to start its rating BNCAP.
Through this program, the government aims to facilitate car consumers to make a comparative assessment of the crash safety of vehicles available in the market. That is, if a customer is considering buying a car, he can decide which car to buy based on the car’s safety rating.
The car will be given a safety rating
In which vehicles will be rated between 1 star to 5 stars. Where 1 star means very poor and 5 stars means best rating i.e. safest vehicle.
Under India NCAP, car manufacturers can voluntarily offer their cars for testing as per Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197. Based on performance in this test, the car’s safety rating will be announced in the adult and child categories.
BNCAP will be applicable to M1 series vehicles
BNCAP will be applicable for all M1 series vehicles, whether manufactured in the country or imported from abroad. BNCAP will be applicable to ‘M1’ category vehicles. This includes passenger vehicles with eight seats and weighing less than 3.5 tonnes. M1 category vehicles means all passenger vehicles that can seat 8 people including the driver.
The car will be tested on 3 criteria
How safe is the vehicle for adults How safe are children in the vehicle if they are sitting in it?
What is the level of safety technology in the vehicle, i.e. does the vehicle have seat belt alarms, sensors, smoke detection. How easy or difficult is it to get out of the car in case of an accident?
No more global NCAP!
Till now auto companies in the country were getting star rating from Global NCAP. Which also costs them dearly. They have to send their vehicle abroad for testing. But after the introduction of high quality testing system in the country itself, it will be beneficial for auto companies as well. Because their value will decrease.
Why was BNCAP introduced?
BNCAP is being introduced as it is designed keeping in mind the Indian traffic conditions, road and driving capabilities. The way vehicles are driven and the pattern of accidents in countries like UK, Europe or America are completely different from India. Therefore, the safety testing of vehicles abroad is mostly done with head-on collisions, while in India, side-on collisions are more common than head-on collisions.