Indian consumers need safer cars: Speakers

By our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, August 1:  “India is world’s sixth largest car market and 2.03 million passenger cars were sold in India as per last year’s data.  India has been witnessing very high rate of road accidents resulting in the largest number of road deaths and injuries in the world.  Approximately 1,374 crashes and 400 deaths take place every day on Indian roads.  One of the major reasons behind high causalities in road accidents in the lack of safety features in Indian cars which have been criticized as being insufficient and ineffective compared to developed countries,” said Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum secretary Advocate Ajoy Hazarika speaking at the state-level car safety workshop organized by Consumer Voice in collaboration with Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum, Assam at Ambika Academy Auditorium, Hatigaon Chariali, Guwahati on Sunday.

Attending as a speaker, automobile expert Mril Medhi said: “When the world is gearing up for fully automated self drive cars, most of the cars sold in India lack basic safety features like air bags, antilock braking systems (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC) etc. Due to absence of strict safety regulations and testing procedures like Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), car manufacturers design their cars in India without essential car safety features in the me of cost cutting. Recently when some of popular cars in India were tested on NCAP standards and out of five four failed badly”.

Presiding over the workshop noted social worker Atul Chandra Dutta  said that while buying car consumers should give preference to safety features not, just its looks, price and other luxuries.

Swagata Kashyap, lecturer J.B. Law College, retired State government officer Kalyan Kumar Borthakur, Agriculture expert Durgeswar Thakuria, Biplaba nda Choudhury of Grahak Suraksha Sangstha   and other speakers from different fields also focused and discussed on car safety issues and demanded for safer cars for consumers. Most of the speakers demand for safer cars will push for better safety regulation and standards in India on a par with global safety standards. The workshop was attended by more than 100 participants, including consumers, students, CSOs, government officials from various departments from all over the state.