Automobile safety standards have improved over the last couple of years in India with the government taking some good safety initiatives to make Indian roads safer.  In July last year, the government mandated driver-side airbags along with a few other safety features across all four-wheelers retailed in India. Dual front airbags, however, are not standard equipment for all cars on sale in India at this point in time, but that’s set to change soon with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) issuing a draft notification that mandates a co-driver airbag for all passenger vehicles in India.

In a statement to the Times Of India (TOI), a government official said, “There is a consensus across the globe that vehicles should have maximum features to protect the occupants in case of a crash. We have also made it clear that there won’t be any compromise on safety features irrespective of the cost.” The report also stated that the Transport Ministry is currently working on the timeline as to when these amendments could be implemented. The current norm mandates a driver-side airbag to be standard across all vehicles but a single-sided airbag leaves the co-passenger with inadequate safety. That usually leaves the co-passenger exposed to serious injury, or even death, in case of a serious mishap. It could take about a year for the new norms to be adopted across the board.