Two-wheelers in India could get a new three-layer safety system to tackle hands-off riding

Two-wheelers in India could get a new three-layer safety system aided by advanced technology, which will focus on safe riding practices. Mint has reported that the Indian government is planning a three-layer ‘hands-free’ safety system for two-wheelers in the country, which will require the manufacturers to install technology that can detect whether riders have both hands on the handlebars and step in if they do not. This comes as India witnesses an alarming number of road accidents every year, and two-wheelers are involved in a majority of those.

Youngsters riding motorcycles or scooters at high speed without hands on the handlebars and performing stunts have long been a common sight across India, raising serious safety concerns for both the riders and other motorists and even pedestrians. With the new safety system, the government is aiming to curb such riding behaviour.

The government’s focus on increasing road safety stems from the large number of road accidents in the country. According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024 report, nearly 468,000 road accidents were recorded across India in 2024, which left 448,365 persons injured and 175,142 dead. A large chunk of these accidents involved the two-wheelers.

How the new safety technology works

According to the draft proposal, the proposed safety standards will install a technology that will act in three layers to ensure the rider will not be able to ride the two-wheeler. According to the draft rule, the two-wheelers have to comply with three tests.

The first layer ensures the system on board the motorcycle or scooter prevents ignition without both hands on the handlebars. The sensors on the handlebars should detect whether both hands are properly in place to initiate ignition of the vehicle. The second layer issues audio and visual alerts if hands are removed while riding. During a vehicle in motion, an audio-visual alert must start three seconds after either of the rider's hands is taken off the handlebars. The third layer ensures a gradual slowdown of the two-wheeler if the rider doesn't keep his or her hands on the handlebars. After eight seconds of the hands being off the handlebars, the safety standards require a coast-down mode to be activated, which will automatically progressively slow down the vehicle as a safety intervention.

Once the safety norms are approved, all new two-wheeler models must comply. However, it is not clear yet whether the standards will be uniformly applied across each category or an exception will be made for entry-level two-wheelers.

How will this new technology impact prices?

The proposed safety standards would impact the pricing of the upcoming two-wheelers in the Indian market. The report has quoted industry executives saying that the per-unit sensor cost of the sensors to be installed on the handlebars would cost between ₹800 and ₹1,000, which means the consumers will have to shell out an extra ₹1,600-2,000 for the system.

Experts have reportedly suggested that engineering such a safety system will not be a challenge for automakers but will increase manufacturing costs. Engineering such a system is not a challenge because all two-wheelers in India already have an electronic control unit (ECU), which can be tweaked to comply with such a system. However, adding the sensors on the handlebars and aligning the ECU to meet the norms will result in a cost hike.

How would the industry react to this new norm?

Interestingly, it is not the first time that there has been a discussion around the technology to curb hands-free riding. The news first surfaced in July 2025, as the centre was planning to curb hands-off two-wheeler riding. This move marks a fresh push by the government to tighten two-wheeler safety norms in India, even as its attempt to mandate anti-lock braking systems (ABS) across all categories of two-wheelers, irrespective of engine capacity, remains stuck due to the industry's resistance and cost concerns.

The industry fears that the price hike due to the installation of the new technology in two-wheelers will have an adverse impact on demand and sales, especially when coupled with an increase in fuel prices.

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