In the crash test, it is seen how much damage is caused to a car after the collision. The same crash test is proposed for the passenger buses, after which they will be given one, two, three, four, or five stars.
Buses and trucks running on the roads are often responsible for fatal accidents. In that respect, these heavy vehicles are mostly leveled as ‘villains’, while their own safety gets ignored. Such news often remains in the headlines that a bus full of passengers fell into a deep ditch or a truck loaded with goods overturned on the highway. One of the major causes behind such road accidents is the unsafe body structure of these big public vehicles. In India, cars and two-wheelers are manufactured directly from the factory, while the bodies of trucks and buses are made by outside craftsmen. Due to a lack of standards for body making, safety is ignored at every level. That is why many times you see similar messages on the rear parts of these vehicles, for example, Buri nazar wale tera muh kaala; Beti bachao Beti padhao; Horn OK Please, etc. For the past few years, well-established automobile companies have definitely started paying attention to the design of the body. However, most of the bodies of large vehicles are still largely made by unskilled craftsmen.
On a positive note, the government has mooted a rule under which every truck will compulsorily have an air-conditioned driver’s cabin. The central government is also making some efforts to contain road accidents. For example, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has launched an indigenous star-rating system for crash testing of cars, under which vehicles will be given one to five stars in terms of safety in case of a collision. This rating system, called the Bharat New Car Assessment Program (BNCAP), is voluntary and came into effect on October 1, 2023. This is India’s own car crash test rating system. It conforms to global crash test protocols. The higher the BNCAP score or stars, the safer is the car. The idea behind this is that while purchasing a vehicle, people can make an informed decision and evaluate the safety of the vehicle. India is now the fifth country in the world to have its own car crash test rating system.
Under BNCAP, cars voluntarily enrolled by automobile manufacturers are crash-tested, according to the prescribed protocol. This system is applicable to passenger vehicles with more than eight seats. The cars are given a rating between one star to five stars after being tested on parameters like the safety of adults, the safety of children, and other safety measures available in the vehicle. The vehicles undergo stringent crash tests before being put on the road. In the crash test, it is seen how much damage is caused to a car after the collision. The same crash test is proposed for the buses, after which they will be given one, two, three, four, or five stars.
More than 1.5 lakh road accidents occur in India in a year. According to a World Bank study, road accidents are estimated to cost the Indian economy 5 to 7% of GDP every year. The government is trying to reduce the loss of life and property due to road accidents by up to 50% by the year 2030. To make passenger buses safe on the road safety criteria, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has approved new standards under BNCAP. There will now be new standards for the manufacturing of bus bodies and these will apply to both original equipment manufacturers and bus body manufacturing companies. This is a big step in view of the increasing number of bus accidents in the country.
The writer is a senior journalist and columnist. Views are Personal.
Email: narvijayindia@gmail.com
