As part of the Indian Government's strategy to reduce the road traffic accident fatality rate in India, on 26th October 2016, the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways published a proposal to mandate the fitment of a number of safety features to new vehicles. As a result of this proposal, the Indian Automotive Industry Standards Committee (AISC) began work on drafting a new Indian Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) to specify the technical requirements for these new safety features, and a draft version of this new standard; AIS-145/D2 was published on 6th April 2017.
For M1 category vehicles, i.e. passenger cars and multipurpose passenger vehicles, the mandatory fitment of the following safety features is proposed:
- A speed warning device which provides an audible signal when the vehicle speed exceeds 80 km/h and a continuous audible warning when the vehicle speed exceeds 120 km/h.
- A safety belt reminder system for the driver's seating position which provides at least a visual warning (e.g. telltale), if the driver’s safety belt is not fastened when the vehicle's ignition is switched on, and both a visual and an audible warning if the vehicle is driven away with the driver’s safety belt unfastened.
- A manual override for the central locking system which ensures that, in the event of an electrical power failure in the vehicle, an occupant within the vehicle can still open the doors from inside the vehicle using the internal door release controls.
- A driver's air bag system meeting the requirements of AIS-098 (Requirements for the protection of occupants in the event of an offset frontal collision) in the case of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 2500 kg, or meeting the requirements of AIS-096 (Requirements for behaviour of steering mechanism of a vehicle in a head on collision) in the case of vehicles with maximum mass exceeding 2500 kg.
- A vehicle reverse parking alert system for the driver, which can either detect (sensor based system) or display (camera based system) obstacles that are within 1.0 m of the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing.
For vehicles, other than M1 category vehicles, it is proposed that they are also fitted with a vehicle reverse parking alert system on a mandatory basis. However, different technical requirements are proposed for the reverse parking alert systems fitted to such vehicles. For example, the systems must be able to detect obstacles up to 1.8 m behind the vehicle.
It is proposed that the fitment of a driver's air bag to M1 category vehicles, will become mandatory for new models manufactured from 1st September 2017 and for existing models manufactured from 1st September 2018. For all of the other new safety features, it is proposed that their fitment becomes mandatory for all vehicles manufactured from 1st April 2018.