We all are aware of the rising safety standards of each and every Indian today. Thanks to Covid 19 Pandemic, it somewhat taught us that to what extent safety is important now-a-days. And it doesn’t just end to various health related issues, it is very concerning when it comes to road transport as well.

Road Transport in India is terrible to be honest. Yes, that is true. Being the largest means of transport, it is so dangerous that we can claim it as the most hazardous sport which is being practised by Indians on their daily basis. We all know the primary reasons for this cause, but we also know that it is quite tough to change the entire system today. But, what we can change is the quality of the Road Transport we use. By which I meant, the Structural rigidity and the overall Technological necessities which are required in one car.

And obviously, it is impossible to decide which car is safe or which is not, but for its rescue, today the Union Minister of Road Transport has launched an organisation called Bharat - New Car Assessment Programme or Bharat NCAP , which will be starting its work from 1st October, 2023.

What was the need for Bharat NCAP?

This programme is very similar to one we are already known to, the G NCAP. But, the problem with the GNCAP was that it was a Global organisation, and also was owned by British businessmen, which can also conclude that the GNCAP was not aware of all the regulations put forth by the Indian Government regarding Car Crash Tests. Therefore, it has its own set of rules, under which it has been testing one car’s safety, and as we Indians did not have any such home-grown Organisation before to rely on, we had no other choice but to move forward as per the GNCAP’s ratings.

Adding more to it, the GNCAP being a global organisation, it used to and still has been picking up cars from the Global Automotive market, which also states that only few India made cars had been tested.

About Bharat NCAP?

With Bharat NCAP things are quite different. This organisation being a home grown organisation, it will test all the cars which are being sold in India. These tests will take place with respect to newly updated safety standards by the Government. Ultimately to us Indians, it will give us a sure footed answer towards buying a particular car or not. Well, like all other NCAP organisation even the Bharat NCAP has its own set of rules, let us go through them -

What kind of cars are eligible to be tested by Bharat NACP?

As stated at the launch event, Bharat NCAP will be based on the Automotive Industry Standards AIS 197. It further states that - vehicles lying into M1 category, which can carry up to 8 passengers on board, which weigh under 3.5 tonnes, and are currently being manufactured or imported in India for sale purposes - will be eligible for Bharat NCAP’s crash tests.

But, there is one more catch. Bharat NCAP will not be crash testing each and every variant of one particular car, they have their own designated way of selecting a vehicle for its further Crash Tests, which is explained in the next point.

How will cars be chosen by Bharat NCAP?

This whole process will be commenced by a Car manufacturer, let us take an example of Tata Motors. Tata Motors will nominate a car by themselves for Bharat NCAP’s crash tests, for instance, let us take Tata Tiago as an example.

Once the nomination process is done, Bharat NCAP will give a visit to Tata Motors’ manufacturing plant where the Tata Tiago is being manufactured. Over there, Bharat NCAP will select any random Tata Tiago’s Base Variant, and will dispatch it to the Bharat NCAP’s Crash test facility for the required crash tests.

Bharat NCAP will only be selecting base variants of nominated cars, because Base variants would give a proper report of - How safe that particular car is from scratch . Hence, this is the method which Bharat NCAP will be using to select a car for its crash tests.

What kind of crash tests will be conducted?

As presented in the launch event, Bharat NCAP will be testing a car with 2 kinds of crashes - Frontal Impact and Side Impact, these two crash tests are mandatory. But, when a car scores more than 3 stars in these two tests, then, it will further be sent to conduct a Side Pole Impact Test as well. These three crash tests will majorly be conducted to find out the ratings of the further 3 factors - Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection and Fitment of Safety Assists technologies.

FRONTAL IMPACT

The contribution of the frontal impact tests to the Adult Occupant Protection Score is calculated by summing the body scores for the relevant body regions. The total score in the frontal impact test is limited to 16 points. For frontal impact, the body regions are grouped together for driver and front passenger, with the score for the grouped body region being that of the worst performing region or limb between the two occupants. The grouped body regions are mentioned below :

• Head and Neck
• Chest
• Knee, Femur, Pelvis (i.e. left and right femur and knee slider)
• Leg and Foot (i.e. left and right lower leg and foot and ankle)

The protection provided for adults for each body region are presented visually, using colours to highlight them. The colour used is based on the points awarded for that body region.

The Frontal Impact will be conducted at a speed of 64 Km/hr, which is similar to that of G NCAP’s test.

SIDE IMPACT

The contribution of the side impact tests to the Adult Occupant Protection Score is calculated by summing the body scores for the relevant body regions. The total score in the side test is also limited to 16 points like Frontal Impact. This is achieved by adding up the individual scores for the side impact test (max. 16 points). Coloured body regions are used for the Side Impact tests too. Distribution of points in the Frontal Impact is done in the Side Impact as well.

Report

Now, after conducting these crashes, the car’s safety performance will be provided in terms of ratings. The ratings will be given in between 1 - 5. These ratings will be a result of summing both the Crash test points - Frontal Impact, Side Impact and if the car scores 3 stars in these two tests then, Side Pole Impact points will also be counted. These ratings will be given by Bharat NCAP’s representatives.

Overall, a certificate will be issued on the car publicaly, which will state its Crash test performance officially, and all of the information will also be uploaded on Bharat NCAP’s official website.

Conclusion

All of this concludes that it is a great measure taken towards betterment of the Indian Automobile Industry. In fact, Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road & Transport also mentioned that since the announcement of Bharat NCAP’s launch has been made, they have a total of 30 car nominations already from various manufacturers. He also assured that this will put the Indian Automobile Industry and our fellow Indian Manufacturers, at a good and respected place globally.