Govt to make rear view sensors mandatory in all cars soon

Government will soon make rear view sensors or backup cameras mandatory in all new vehicles to avoid mishaps.

Even though cars come equipped with rear view mirrors which are adequate for looking at vehicles behind, they are inadequate in detecting small children or objects close to the ground, falling in car's blind spot.

"To rectify this, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will soon issue a notification to make rear view sensors mandatory in all vehicles," Joint Secretary of the Ministry Abhay Damle said.

Addressing the curtain raiser event for World Roads Meet (WRM 2017) organised by International Road Federation (IRF), he said more than 50,000 fatal accidents take place in the country due to over speeding and hence the government is planning to make audio warnings also mandatory in vehicles.

"Government is also planning to make audio warning mandatory in vehicles on similar lines of seat belt wearing sign. At the speed of 80 km/hr small beep sound warning will come and after the speed of 90 km/hr a continuous beep will alert the speeding driver," Damle said.

He said the government has already made it compulsory for all two-wheelers, which account for the highest share of accidents, to either have the anti-lock braking system or the combined braking system by April 2019.

Apart from rear view sensors and speed warning, air bags will also become mandatory in all vehicles soon, he said adding, from October 1, 2018 vehicles will have to go in for automated inspection and fitness certification test with hardly any human intervention.

Similarly, driving license test will also become automated by that time and will help reduce road accidents, he added.

He said in the proposed Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, which will be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament, provisions have been made for legal protection of Good Samaritans who help accident victims.

Government has added a significant clause under which a Good Samaritan's affidavit will have the legal force of a statement, and if a statement is required, it should be recorded in a single examination and for any further information the judicial or law officer will have to go to his or her house and record the statement, he said.

IRF Chairman KK Kapila said India will host, for the first time, World Road Meeting from November 14-17, 2017.

"The major highlight of the WRM 2017 will be a summit of transport ministers from various parts of the globe. The theme would be 'Safe Roads and Smart Mobility : The Engines of Economic Growth'," Kapila said.