Six airbags will be required in eight-seater vehicles.

The government will require carmakers to include a minimum of six airbags in vehicles that can carry up to eight passengers for increased occupant safety, said Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday.

Gadkari stated at the 'Intel India's Safety Pioneers Conference 2022' that every year, around 1.5 lakh people are killed in five lakh incidents throughout the country. "We have decided to make it necessary in motor vehicles to have at least six airbags. We aim to help people save their lives," According to the minister of road transport and highways.

In January, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) announced that in order to improve the safety of motor vehicle occupants against lateral collision, it has decided to change the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989.

On January 14, 2022, a draft notification was issued mandating that vehicles of category M1, manufactured after October 1, 2022, shall be equipped with two side/side torso air bags, one each for the persons occupying front row outboard seating positions, and two side curtain/tube air bags, one each for the persons occupying outboard seating positions, it said.

An airbag is a car occupant-restraint mechanism that, following a collision, interferes between the driver and the vehicle's dashboard, preventing major injury.

We need collaboration from all parties (including the motor industry), he added. His statements come as the motor sector expresses worry that higher taxes and tighter safety and pollution standards have made their goods more expensive.

According to Gadkari, all global automotive brands are available in India.

He acknowledged that while safe roads are critical, efficient execution of the Motor Vehicles Act is a difficulty. The minister reaffirmed that Indian road infrastructure will be comparable to that of the United States by 2024.

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