‘Need star-rating for trucks too, says Daimler India’s Arya

‘Require safety road map for commercial vehicles with the goal of zero fatalities in the first step and zero accidents in the next’

Commercial vehicles such as trucks too should be part of the government’s scheme for crash-linked safety performance star rating system, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles CEO and MD Satyakam Arya said on Monday.

“Why not include commercial vehicles in Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme)? Are truck drivers not entitled to safer roads?” asked Mr. Arya at Safety Pioneer’s Conference organised by Intel India.

He said there was a need to have a safety road map for commercial vehicles with the goal of zero fatalities in the first step and zero accidents as the next step.

Last week, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued a draft notification on Bharat NCAP under which passenger vehicles with up to eight seats would be given zero to five stars following their performance in a crash test, to allow buyers to make a decision based on safety. The programme will come into affect from April 2023. It is not a mandatory scheme, and vehicles will be chosen based on their popularity.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari declined to comment on why draft Bharat NCAP covered only passenger vehicles, but said that the scheme would encourage healthy competition among automotive manufacturers.

“With India thus far lacking any safety rating requirement for its vehicles, the introduction of the Bharat NCAP is a welcome development and should be mandatorily applicable for all new M1 category vehicles,” said Piyush Tewari, CEO, SaveLIFE Foundation.

“Eventually, like Euro NCAP and the U.S. NCAP, where even the M2 category vehicles are tested, in India as well, the testing should be expanded to cover other categories of vehicles too,” he added.