About 140,000 lives were lost in India in 2012 in road accidents and an estimated 17% (about 24,000) of them were the vehicle occupants. What could be the reasons for this huge loss of human life?

• Bad roads? Maybe.
• Unsafe driving? Maybe.
• Lack of safety in cars? Definitely.

Yes. It is has been proven. Global NCAP, a UK watchdog for car safety conducted tests on five best selling car models in India- Tata Nano, Hyundai i10, Ford Figo, Volkwagen Polo and Maruti-Suzuki Alto 800, These models accounted for 20% of all car sales in India last year. The results produced by these tests were astounding.

All of these entry-level models were sold without airbags. Also, the safety standards of these models were nowhere near to that of the same models sold in Europe and North America. Apparently, these models were stripped off of the safety features that reduced the price of these vehicles. Max Mosley, head of Global NCAP said that the lives of Indian customers are at a great risk due to poor structural integrity and lack of airbags. The levels of safety here are about 20 years behind that of Europe and North America, where a five-star safety standard is common. He further added that Indian car customers have a right to know how safe their cars are and expect the same standards of safety as in other parts of world.

Following the tests, Volkswagen decided withdrew all non-airbag versions of Polo from market. Similarly, the remaining manufacturers have decided to review safety measures in their products.