India is the fourth-largest automotive manufacturing hub globally. The size of India's automobile industry, as shared by Prashanth Doreswamy, President & CEO, Continental India, can also be gauged from the fact that Indian roads carry the burden of over 90% of vehicles plying here.
Considering the increasing size of India's automotive domain, he pointed towards road safety as the need of the hour. While speaking at the 'Making Mobility Safe, Secure' webinar organised by the Mobility Outlook, he said, “Road safety for the passengers, the drivers, and the pedestrians is equally important.”
Data from WHO proves that more than half of the deaths from road accidents involve road users such as pedestrians.
Delivery his presentation at the webinar, Dr Arun Jaura, CTO, Hero MotoCorp, said, '93% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low and middle-class countries, even though these countries have around 60% of the world's vehicles.'
Improved Standards In Technologies
Vehicle OEMs, as per Doreswamy, are now looking at improved standards of technologies to make roads and vehicles safer than ever by focusing on 'Active' and 'Passive' safety systems.
Pointing towards ABS as a standard feature in vehicles, he shared that making six bags compulsory in passenger cars will further boost vehicle safety. However, the challenge for OEMs will be to bring such advancements to mass production levels at affordable costs.
'In a cost-conscious market like India, the adoption of life-saving technologies will be influenced by the policies and awareness,' he said.
Doreswamy believes that the Government of India is doing a great job by mandating certain active & passive safety systems. Technologies like electronic stability control, emergency brake assist, optimised curve brake assist system, traction control system, TPMS and ADAS functions should be the next focus. He highlighted how Continental has been working to make these affordable across all vehicle forms.
The Indian two-wheeler market, one of the biggest in the world, is also going through an evolution led by safer motorcycles and scooters. Two-wheeler OEMs, as per him, are pushing boundaries to make their products safer and accessible for the masses.
Post-crash-braking is one of the technologies that Continental is currently working on. It is useful when a rider is not able to apply brakes immediately after a crash. Doreswamy explained that the same will be fruitful in helping avoid secondary crashes.
Applying all these technologies and making the vehicles connected over the internet would also require OEMs to ensure that enough measures are taken to ensure cybersecurity.
'Software is becoming an integral part of the vehicles, and making the codes secure and unhackable will also be a challenge,' he said.
Localisation Is The Key
India makes approximately 20 million two-wheelers every year, but it accounts for 11% of road accidents worldwide. Out of the total accidents happening in India, two-wheelers account for nearly 43%, Dr Jaura said.
'However, the grave part is that almost 40% of two-wheeler accidents lead to untimely deaths,' Dr Jaura noted, adding that 56% of all two-wheeler accidents happen due to over-speeding, and 28% happen due to careless riding.
There have been instances where other vehicles have hit two-wheelers from the rear side, as the rider could not view the rear because he had removed the rear-view mirrors as a fashion statement.
'Even in the B2B space where 2Ws are used for deliveries, the boxes installed on the back of them defy the norms that have been mandated by law,' he said. Data shows that the risk involved in a 2W crash is much more than in cars.
As Dr Jaura pointed out, this requires regulations and actions to enhance the active & passive safety of 2W riders on top priority. 'India is a cost-sensitive market where effective & affordable 2W safety technologies should be introduced via localisation,' he said.
Emergency alerts, adaptive headlights, airbag clothing/helmets, smart helmets, ARAS, and more such features will be the ones to watch out for in the future.
The Indian market, as per Dr Jaura, is not about high-cost solutions. Instead, it appreciated leading world standard efficient and sustainable solutions. He concluded, 'We need to create an ecosystem for long-term sustainable development and innovation to attract mass adoption of safety devices that fit the customer price tag.'
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