Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) to start next year

India will have its own New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) from 2017. It is likely to be called the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme and the cars that will be tested will need to comply with certain regulations. NCAP covers safety in various aspects like front, side and rear impacts and pedestrian and child safety.

Bharat NCAP will issue ratings between 0.5 and 4.5 for cars that pass the frontal impact tests at 56 kph. 5 star ratings will be awarded to cars passing frontal crash tests at 64 kph. The speed for side crash tests is set at 50 kph.

India will be the first country to consider pedestrian protection in case of a car crash.

The manufacturers would have to equip their cars with airbags and child restraints to pass the tests. Some additional features such as a warning beep at the speed of 80 kph and a loud alert after 100 kph will help the car in getting higher ratings.

Getting safety ratings from Bharat NCAP will be voluntary for manufacturers. However, a good rating could prove to be a deciding factor for the customers during purchase of any new car.

Source: ET Auto