Anti-lock system a must for commercial vehicles

In a move aimed to bring down the number of accidents caused by heavy commercial vehicles, the government has made it mandatory for all such vehicles to install Antilock Braking System (ABS). Moushumi Das Gupta reports.

In a move aimed to bring down the number of accidents caused by heavy commercial vehicles, the government has made it mandatory for all such vehicles to install Antilock Braking System (ABS).

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“The decision to make ABS mandatory in commercial vehicles was taken at the Road ministry’s Technical Standing Committee meeting today,” said a senior road ministry official.

ABS helps drivers maintain steering control under heavy braking by preventing the wheels from getting locked.

A mandatory requirement in commercial vehicles in many countries around the world, ABS was not compulsory in India till date.

India has one of the highest number of road accident — one every minute – in the world. In 2011 there was around 4.98 lakh road accident which killed 1.42 lakh people.

Trucks, buses, tractors were involved in 31% of the accidents. A whopping 77% of the accidents were caused due to loss of control, collision and lane departure.