Small cars too need adequate number of airbags to ensure safety: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said that small cars, mostly purchased by lower middle-class people, should also have an adequate number of airbags and wondered why auto makers are providing eight airbags only in big cars bought by rich people.

In an interview to PTI, the Road Transport and Highways Minister also emphasised that his appeal for more airbags in small economy cars was to ensure safety and prevent possible deaths in accidents.

His remarks come against the backdrop of the automobile industry raising concerns that high taxation and stricter safety and emission norms for vehicles have made their products expensive.

Mostly, lower middle-class people buy small economy cars and “if their car won’t have airbags and when accidents happen, then it may result in deaths. So, I appeal to all car manufacturers to provide a minimum of six airbags across all variants and segments of the vehicle,” he said.

While acknowledging that additional airbags in small cars will increase their cost by at least Rs 3,000-4,000, Gadkari also said, “in our country, poor should also get protection (in case of road accidents)”.

Known for expressing his views frankly, he said, “for rich people, you (auto makers) offer eight airbags, and for economy model cars (used by lower middle-class people), you will offer only two-three airbags. How come?”.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor