Tech Trend 247

The Indian government plans a series of changes in cars and two-wheelers in the country as it continues its efforts to curb road accidents.

The government will soon require cars to have rear parking sensors, a transport ministry official said. Most cars operating in the country currently only rely on rear mirrors, which are riddled with blind spots by nature. 

"Although most cars come equipped with rear view mirrors which are adequate for detecting vehicles behind a car, but they are inadequate on for detecting small children or objects close to the ground, which fall in the car's blind spot," said Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Indian government is expected to make the announcement soon. 

But that's not all. The government is also ensuring that drivers are fully aware of the speeds at which they are driving. For this, it wants a beeping system to be installed in the vehicle that rings as soon as the car hits 60 kmph, which is the top speed limit for cars on most city roads. The warning system beeps again when the car reaches 80 kmph, and begins to beep frantically when the driver goes past 90 kmph. 

The government also plans to cut human intervention from several inspection processes. 

The government also plans to cut human intervention from several inspection processes. "From Oct. 1, 2018 all 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. This will help in reducing fatal road accidents," the official added.

The move comes as the government tries to curtail growing number of road accidents in the country. Road accidents kills one person every four minutes in India, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said earlier this year. India sees roughly 500,000 road accidents every year, killing as many as 140,000 people, and severely impacting 300,000 others. 

In the recent months, the government has introduced several major changes to transportation laws such as a mandatory inclusion of air bags in cars. That reform is also expected come in effect soon. 

Some changes for two-wheelers are also on the anvil. The government plans all two-wheelers in India should get anti-lock braking system and combined braking system. Both the systems will be required starting April 2019. 

The former provides the vehicle with the ability to monitor the speed of each wheel to detect locking. When it detects sudden braking, it provides optimum breaking pressure to each wheel. This capability comes in handy especially when a vehicle is on slippery road. The combined breaking system ensures that both front and back brakes are properly aligned. 

Though these changes have the potential to make roads safer for all, they also means that some cars, specially the ones in lower end will become costlier. Mid-range and higher-end cars typically come equipped with all of the aforementioned sensors, but car manufacturers often skip these "optional" features in their entry-level offerings.