Global NCAP crash tests indicate high risk of life threatening injuries, the two cars join Maruti Alto 800, Hyundai i10, Tata Nano,  Volkswagen Polo and Ford Figo which have received a zero safety star rating in January this year. SIAM dismisses the ratings, says tests not suited to Indian conditions.

Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), the international auto safety watchdog, has cracked down on two more popular cars in India for their safety standards. The body has declared top selling Maruti Suzuki hatchback Swift and Nissan’s small car Datsun Go as highly unsafe in a crash scenario, as both cars failed crash tests.

Global NCAP has given both cars a zero star safety rating for their adult occupant protection, while Maruti Suzuki car received one star and Nissan Datsun GO received two stars for child occupant protection. The readings from the simulated tests, conducted at a speed of 64 km per hour, suggested that the driver could sustain fatal injuries in instance of a collision. But fitting the Maruti Suzuki car with airbags would increase its occupant safety, the breakdown of the Nissan Datsun GO body shell in the scenario of an accident made even fitting of airbags futile.

However, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the Indian auto industry body has come out in defence of the manufacturers, stating that both the cars conform to the country’s safety standards. Vishnu Mathur, director general of SIAM said that the Global NCAP had not taken into consideration that the average speed in India was much lower than in developed countries, given the bad roads and traffic.

While Nissan assured that their small car meets the local regulations for vehicle safety, Maruti Suzuki has not made any comment on the star rating.

In a separate development, the Narendra Modi government is planning to revamp highway laws to bring down causalities due to road accidents. Part of the programme is the Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme that will rate cars on their safety based on crash tests and several other factors.

India has one of the worst road safety reputations, owing to unqualified drivers, poorly maintained roads, weak law enforcement and lack of safety features in cars. And a key factor in absence of safety features like airbags in locally made vehicles is the consumers’ unwillingness to pay for these additional yet vital features.  So the question is, will any of these star ratings be able to change the consumer attitude towards vehicular safety?

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