Six airbags for cars in India to soon become compulsory. Details here

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday has said in a tweet that he has approved a draft GSR notification to make a minimum of six airbags compulsory for motor vehicles that carry up to eight occupants.

In a series of tweets, Gadkari also said that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had already mandated the implementation of the fitment of the driver airbag effective from 1st July 2019 and front co-passenger airbag, effective from 1st January this year.

“To minimize the impact of frontal and lateral collisions to the occupants seated in both front and rear compartments, it has been decided that 4 additional airbags be mandated in the M1 vehicle category," Gadkari tweeted. He also added that two side or side torso airbags and two side curtain or tube airbags covering all outboard passengers have been mandated to be fitted in the new passenger vehicles.

“This is a crucial step to make motor vehicles in India safer than ever," Gadkari wrote. He emphasized that this will ultimately ensure the safety of passengers across all segments, irrespective of the cost or variant of the vehicle.

The dual front airbags have become mandatory from January 1 this year but that is meant for frontal-impact safety of the driver and front co-passenger. The new regulation that makes side curtain airbags mandatory for the new vehicles will ensure safety for the occupants in case of side impacts as well.

India is one of the top countries that registers an alarmingly high number of road accidents every year. A huge number of deaths and severe injuries take place due to these road accidents. While traffic violations are attributed as major reasons behind the accidents, inadequate safety measures, especially in smaller entry-level vehicles too cause a wide number of fatalities.