Soon all cars to come with overspeeding alert system, airbags

Government will soon make it mandatory to put an overspeeding warning system with beeps or continuous alarms and airbags in all cars, while cameras would be also installed on roads to check errant drivers.

"We are going to make audio alerts in vehicles mandatory to check overspeeding and curb accidents," an official told PTI.

Once the vehicle crosses the speed of 80 km, there would be sounds of beeps alerting the driver, and in case the speed crosses 90 km, there would be continuous special beeps so that the driver and co-passengers both are alarmed, the official said.

"The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has approved it and the file has gone for vetting to the Legal Department. Once it is through, we will notify it within a fortnight," the official said.

Besides, the government is going to install cameras to check overspeeding, the official said, adding another crucial step would be mandatory airbags in cars. India accounts for as high as five lakh road accidents annually in which 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh are crippled. A 2015 data showed that "owners of regular licences were involved in 79 per cent of about 5 lakh road accidents in which 1.46 lakh people died."

Drivers' fault accounted for 77 per cent of total road accidents, and a recent report found that "drivers exceeding lawful speed or overspeeding accounted for a share of 62.2 per cent and 61 per cent of accidents caused or people killed due to drivers fault."

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier said that to check errant drivers, cameras would be installed on highways to monitor the speed of the vehicles and strict penalties would be imposed on violators.

Stressing that the government is committed to ensuring safer travel, he said several important decisions were being taken to correct automobile designs and it has been mandatory to ensure airbags in vehicles besides provision of air conditioning in truck cabins.

The proposed Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 proposes hefty penalties for violation of traffic norms including penalties in the range of Rs 1,000-Rs 4,000 for overspeeding. The proposals are based on the recommendations of transport ministers from 18 states.