Crash test must for quadricycles: Gauhati HC

CHENNAI: In an interesting twist to the quadricycle saga, the Gauhati high court has in an interim order directed the central government not to permit auto manufacturers to release and sell small four-wheelers with a mass of up to 1,500kg and quadricycles without putting them to crash-test and emission test.
The order says that since the quadricycle is "also a motor vehicle coming within the definition of M1 category," the emission norms applicable to the M1 category should have been made applicable to it and not the norms relating to two-wheelers and three-wheelers.The order is important because the quadricycle's crash and emission norms have been a bone of contention in the auto industry. The M1 category comprises passenger vehicles with not more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat whereas N1 covers goods vehicles having a maximum mass of 3.5 tonnes.
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Quadricycles are lightweight four-wheel vehicles meant for intra-city travel. Since the government notified this new category of vehicles on February 19, 2014, several high courts across the country have issued stay orders on their introduction which is why these vehicles have not yet hit the roads in India. However, in March 2015, the Supreme Court transferred to itself several petitions related to the launch of quadricycles and also extended a stay imposed on the orders of several high courts, including those of Delhi, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Its final decision is still awaited.
The Gauhati high court order, delivered by Chief Justice (acting) K Sreedhar Rao and Justice PK Saikia, not only raises the safety and emission requirements for quadricycles but also covers all four-wheeler vehicles- both passenger and goods - with a mass up to 1,500kg. "It is the contention of the petitioners that the small passenger cars produced by the manufacturers in India do not conform to the safety standards," said the order. Referring to the European New Car Assessment Programme (ENCAP) test conducted on Indian vehicles late last year, the order said: "The requirement of air bags and the sturdy frontal body are said to be primary conditions for safety of the driver and other inmates in the vehicle. However, in the test conducted by the ENCAP in November 2014, it is said that all small cars - four-wheelers in particular - of the M1 and N1 categories sold in India have not passed the crash-test and do not conform to the standard of emission test." The order is in response to two PILs filed by Mukesh Agarwal and Rita Das Mazumdar.
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The government recently made it mandatory for new models to meet the minimum frontal and side crash test as well as pedestrian protection test from October 2017 onwards. These norms mean that auto companies will have to install airbags and the anti-lock brake system in all vehicles. India's first crash test facility is expected to come up in Pune under ARAI by the end of the year.