April 2015: ABS compulsory for commercial vehicles in India

Last year, we had reported that the Government of India had made it compulsory for all commercial vehicles to be equipped with anti-lock braking systems (ABS) from April 2015. In accordance with the mandate, all trucks and buses manufactured from April 1, 2015 will come with the safety feature.

Until now, ABS was mandatory only for the commercial vehicles carrying petroleum and explosive items. Since 2006, ABS has been mandatory for 40- and 49-tonne tractor-trailers.

ABS allows the driver to control a vehicle better during hard braking since it prevents the wheels from locking and the amount of force applied to all wheels is varied electronically to maximise the stopping power. This prevents the vehicle from skidding in emergency braking situations.

In India, ABS kits are manufactured by companies such as Wabco and Knorr-Bremse. The fitting of the systems on commercial vehicles is certain to push their costs up. However, given the poor safety record of trucks and buses in the country, the step to make ABS compulsory comes as a welcome development. It could go a long way in making our roads a lot safer for users.