BHARAT NCAP (B-NCAP)
WHY IN NEWS ?
- Recently Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has officially launched the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP), slated to come into effect on 1 October.
WHAT IS BHARAT NCAP (B-NCAP) ?
- The primary goal of the Bharat NCAP is to enhance road safety by awarding star ratings to cars based on their performance in rigorous safety tests.
- These tests evaluate both adult occupant (AOP) and child occupant (COP) safety.
- The tests will assess vehicle safety through front impact, side impact and side impact pole tests.
- Electric vehicles (EVs) are not currently part of the protocol.
- The Bharat NCAP test protocol will align with international NCAP rating agencies and include front impact, side impact and pole impact tests at a speed of 64 km/hour.
NEED OF CAR BASED SAFETY TESTS :
- Crash investigations carried out by NGO SaveLIFE Foundation have shown that passenger compartment intrusion played a key role in 62% of fatal car crashes probed, seat deformation in 34% of crashes, and missing safe braking tech in 30% of car accidents investigated.
MORE ABOUT THE BHARAT NCAP (B-NCAP):
- Now car manufacturers can volunteer to get a star rating indicating the safety of their models in a crash, under an indigenous programme for testing.
- The Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) is modelled on the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP).
- The new programme will be applicable to passenger vehicles with not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3,500 kg.
- The programme is voluntary except in certain cases such as a base variant of a popular vehicle model.
- A rating from one star to five stars will be assigned to a vehicle after an evaluation of three parameters i.e. adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, and safety assist technologies present in the car.
SYLLABUS: PRELIMS, CURRENT AFFAIRS
