Bosch, one of the largest global suppliers of automotive components has several conclusions while carrying out the Accident Research Project. This project was conducted to find out the ways by which vehicles can reduce accidents on the large scale. Also, this research project tries out to find ways of minimising injuries in case of impact during an accident. This research is based on scientifically collected data on accidents by the Road Accident Sampling System – India or RASSI database.
Among the reports that were published by the research results, anti-lock brakes or ABS system is extremely beneficial for reducing accidents on two-wheelers. Approximately 556 different cases were studied, among which, 33 per cent of the accidents could have been avoided had there been ABS installed on the bikes. Also, another 16 per cent of the collisions could have been avoided if ABS had been installed on the two-wheelers. According to the road accident data, two-wheelers were the most vulnerable among all mishaps, which accounted to almost 29 per cent of the over one lakh fatalities on Indian roads. Currently, only a few Indian bikes offer ABS. As a matter of fact, there are speculations that ABS system will be made mandatory on Indian bikes from 2017.
Apart from making it mandatory on all bikes, the Indian government is all planning to make ABS compulsory on all cars. According to the Bosch data, 20 per cent of the accidents could have been reduced had there been ABS installed on cars. These data were derived from nearly 216 accidents, which took place on the Coimbatore-Chennai highway.
Apart from ABS, the reports from the Mumbai-Pune and Chennai-Coimbatore highway also revealed the importance of airbags. Among the 375 some cars involved in accidents, only 14 per cent had airbags equipped inside. Also important to note is the usage of seatbelts, which were not worn by the frontal occupants during the accidents. Seatbelts are the primary restraint systems, which should be worn always while driving to prevent casualties in case of accidents.
Road safety is considered to be one of the most important aspects and is fast gaining momentum in India. In fact, the Indian Government has also shown its desire to improve safety conditions in the country by showing its intention to push forward the Road Safety and Transport Bill. Once this comes into effect, the roads are expected to become safer, both for two-wheelers as well as for cars.
