Siemens NX CAD CAM Software to Design Airbag Parking Sensors in Delhi

All Cars Must Have Airbag, Speed Alert, And Parking Sensors From July 2019

As per the new proposal, cars that are manufactured from July 1, 2019 must feature airbags, reverse parking sensor, speed system, seat belt reminders, and even a manual override over the central locking system for emergencies.

As of July 1, 2019, all cars that are manufactured in India must come equipped with advanced safety features, says a Times of India report. According to the report, cars that are manufactured after July 2019 will have to be equipped with features like – airbags, reverse parking sensor, an alert system when the car goes beyond 80 kmph, seat belt reminders, and even a manual override over the central locking system for emergencies. Apparently, the Ministry of Road and Transport has approved already approved the proposal and timeline and an official announcement is expected soon.

All cars produced post the date, no matter what size and variant, will have to feature components like airbags, reverse parking sensor, speed alert system, seat belt reminders and even a manual override option for the central locking system. While the proposal has been approved, a timeline and an official statement will soon be out with the other details of the law.

Until now these safety features were considered advanced in our auto industry and only featured in premium cars. Even in most of those, these features were either optional or were available only with the top-end variant, which is a shame.

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Out of the 1.51 lakh road accidents in 2016, speeding itself was the cause for nearly 74,000 deaths in India. So, to avoid this, a speed monitoring system will be introduced wherein once the car crosses the 80 kmph mark, an alert will be triggered. The audio of the alert will get sharper as the car crosses the 100 kmph mark and above 120 kmph the alert will continue to play non-stop.

Speaking of the manual override system, it can be used in case the central locking system doesn’t work or is unreachable to the passengers. The rear parking sensors are for the driver who will be alerted if there is an object right behind the car if it is in reverse gear. Several incidents have taken place wherein people, especially kids, got crushed under vehicles as the driver was unaware that anybody was behind the car.

Automakers don’t seem to be surprised by the announcement though, as they were expecting it for quite some time now and as per them, a year and a half is enough to adapt. Toyota, for example, has been offering airbags in all of its cars for the past two years. The Japanese car maker is also lobbying in favor of stricter crash test norms, and wants Indian cars to be tested at 64 kmph for frontal impact instead of 56 kmph.

The decision should make mass-market cars much safer for a nominal price hike as the cost of adding these features is also expected to drop with increasing demand. All these norms have already been mandatory in several other countries for years and it’s time we took pedestrian and driver safety more seriously.

While a lot of manufacturers have been offering airbags and reverse parking sensors even in entry-level cars, the features are only available as either an optional extra or in the top-end variant. With the implementation of this new rule, these safety features will be standard across all variants and for cars of every segment. Right now, safety features of these standards are only offered in premium and luxury cars.

As mentioned before, in addition to airbags and seat belt reminder, the new cars will also come with a speed monitoring system that will alert the driver on the increasing speed of the cars. It will give a sharper audio alert with the speed crosses 80 kmph mark. The alert will become sharper at 100 kmph and above 120 kmph it will become go on non-stop. In 2016, speeding alone accounted for nearly 74,000 of the 1.51 lakh deaths in road accidents, which is why such a feature is really important. As for the manual override system, it can be used in the event of when the central locking system becomes dysfunctional and the occupants are trapped inside the car. Similarly, the parking sensors will alert the driver if there is an object very close to the car while taking the car in reverse.

Interestingly, cars in several global markets already come with these features as a standard offering and in India, most of these features are still considered as premium features. We are glad to see that the Indian government is finally taking such strong measures to ensure occupant safety in cars and pedestrian safety as well. It’s being said that Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has already approved the move, we still await an official announcement from the Ministry of Road and Transport.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Transport Research Wing, Government of India, about 2.5 lac people in India lost their lives in road accidents in the year 2013. If you shudder at the thought of losing 2.5 lac lives in a year, then let me tell you that the actual figures could be worse.

India has a poor record and reputation when compared to developed nations in the west when it comes to road fatalities. Hence, it is time and with a reason that we practice safe driving and opt for safer cars. There is no fun without safety as they say and say that quite right. TBHP always advocates safe driving. We have articles highlighting the importance of seat belts. Let’s go a step further and discuss the SRS and particularly the airbags.

SRS means ‘Supplemental Restraint System’ and includes the airbags and seat belt pretensioners. As we already know that most fatal injuries are inflicted on the occupants when the human body strikes or bangs against the interiors of the car like against the steering wheel or the dashboard at the instance of crash.

Airbags are a safety device in your car which inflate much like a balloon in case of a crash/ severe impact and offer effective cushioning to the chest and head of the occupants, hence increasing the chances of their survival. It has to be kept in mind that airbags, a part of SRS, are designed and intended to be used in tandem with seat belts. Hence, they offer maximum protection when the occupants are properly restraint by seat belts. No prizes for guessing now that seat belts are the PRS- Primary Restraint System. Also, most airbags are designed to be used just once. So, they will need a change once they have seen the action.

The philosophy and concept of efficacy of airbags is simple. Just provide a cushion between the occupant’s body and impact point and hence lessen the injury to critical body parts like the upper torso and the head. Since, it is impossible to trigger the system manually in time as this is a split second affair; it is best left to the system to decide when the airbags would trigger. Hence, the system deploys a number of sensors and algorithms to detect impact and severe deceleration of the car which helps the on board computer (Airbag Control Unit/ integrated ECU) to trigger the airbags in time.

The airbag must be inflated in a split second so as to protect the occupants and to prove their money’s worth, but its split second rapid inflation is not possible by any electronic air pump. So to overcome this problem, the system uses a chemical explosion to inflate the airbags immediately. The chemicals used in most airbag systems are Sodium Azide, Potassium Nitrate and Silicon Di-Oxide, which can react rapidly to form nitrogen. The Nitrogen gas finally inflates the airbags. And, fasten your seat belts ladies and gentlemen, all this happens within 30-40 milliseconds (0.03-0.04 seconds) of impact.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Transport Research Wing, Government of India, about 2.5 lac people in India lost their lives in road accidents in the year 2013. [Secondary Source: Wikipedia]. If you shudder at the thought of losing 2.5 lac lives in a year, then let me tell you that the actual figures could be worse.

See how Siemens Solutions Softwares helps the manufacturers to design safety systems in Cars.