Car Safety Features: Getting Rid of Mobile Steel Coffins

Last week the Central Government made a logical and obvious decision of approving the timeline for implementation of several safety features in cars. This was long overdue, and most of the people were surprised to know that so far these were not mandatory. I have been writing and discussing these issues for a long time and feel happy that the policy makers have heeded, though quite late.

The important safety features – which have become almost non-negotiable due to ever-increasing safety concerns on the road – are airbags, seat-belt reminders, over-speed alert systems, reverse parking alerts, manual override over central locking system, etc. All these features have become mandatory for all the cars manufactured after July 1, 2019. This is a pretty long period of time and it clearly shows the very strong lobbying power of the combined car manufacturers, irrespective of cut-throat competition among themselves, which has been able to delay such crucial decision from being made by the government for so long.

In India, the car companies vie for the big slice of the cake which lies at the bottom of the pyramid – the entry level car which is sold at unbelievably low price, when compared with such low-end cars globally. That market is huge and typically no car manufacturer or seller in India – except the luxury brands, who have positioned themselves in the high-end market segment, and cannot offer such a car despite huge temptations due to the very high possibility of seriously denting their luxury brand image – can ignore it. At the entry level the customer is extremely price sensitive and every penny matters. Thus, penny-pinching has become the norm with newer and desirable safety features being axed.

The car manufacturer 'frenemies' – enemies who are friends at times and for certain purposes – will find the bar raised and competition toughened to keep the prices attractive enough for entry-level cars. Most of the cars in the upper segments were already equipped with these features. Shockingly, one of the features – manual override over central locking system in emergencies – has been absent in almost all the luxury cars, and this is required primarily in luxury cars as most of them are armed with automatic central locking system. Low-end cars are not fortified with automatic central locking, and, hence, manual override feature, if added, will be superfluous.

There have been several incidents – most conspicuous were during Mumbai floods on July 26, 2005 – when many persons lost their lives in luxury cars as they got trapped inside the cars with automatic central locking and power windows, which could not be operated as the engine and the battery did not work due to submergence under water. This was not acceptable at all as the passengers became slaves of technology – central locking and power windows – which was developed to facilitate commuting and take it several notches higher in comfort and luxury.

But, at what cost? Can comfort be at the cost of safety? Never! The penny has dropped a little too late. It's not only the rich who deserve a safe ride. This is precisely the job of regulators and policy makers to ensure safety of everyone and not allow by law to manufacture mobile steel coffins. How can the car manufacturers not understand such a simple thing? It is not that they did not understand, the real reason is that in the race to get more profit and better results than previous years or even quarters, some things, howsoever obvious and crucial they may be, are ignored.

How did the policy makers not take cognisance of such obvious issues? There is not one single answer as policy making is guided by political motives and in a democratic country, keeping a large number of people happy – or at least not antagonising them – is the open secret to get re-elected. It really requires strong will-power to make such changes as the price of cars is definitely going to increase, making both the manufacturer and the buyer feel the pinch.

Hopefully, the number of accidents and consequential losses – most importantly lives of drivers and passengers – will reduce drastically, if not completely eliminated. There is no place for mobile steel coffins on the roads.