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'Need cooperation...': Gadkari to automobile firms over reducing road accidents
Addressing the annual session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) on Wednesday, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said that the majority of automobile manufacturers in India were already exporting cars with six airbags and there was a need to adopt similar safety norms in the country.
Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has urged automobile manufacturers in India to adopt global safety norms for cars in the country. The minister said that cooperation from the automobile industry is needed in reducing accidents.
Addressing the annual session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) on Wednesday, Gadkari said that the majority of automobile manufacturers in India were already exporting cars with six airbags and there was a need to adopt similar safety norms in the country.
"Majority of automobile manufacturers in India are exporting cars with six airbags. But in India, due to the economic model and cost, they are hesitating," Gadkari said during the session, news agency PTI reported.
The Union minister pointed out that every year, around five lakh road accidents killed 1.5 lakh people and injured more than three lakh, and stressed the need of the hour to reduce road accidents in the country.
Gadkari further said he wondered why automobile manufacturers were not thinking about the lives of people who had economy cars.
"We need the cooperation of the automobile industry in reducing accidents. There should be healthy competition among manufacturers to produce safer cars," he also said during the ACMA session and added that road safety is the highest agenda for the Modi government.
Time and again, Nitin Gadkari has underlined the need for safer vehicles in India.
A few days back, the Union minister had said that the Modi government was working towards making six airbags compulsory in all cars. Gadkari has also said wearing seat belts is mandatory for all passengers in a vehicle, including those in the rear seat.
Last year, more than 1.55 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents - an average of 426 daily or 18 every single hour- the highest death figures recorded in any calendar year till now.
