IRDA starts revolutionary move to test safety of vehicle models

Chennai: With the ever-increasing motor accidents in India resulting in mounting accident victims and consequent insurance claims, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has embarked on a revolutionary track — setting up an autonomous body to test the safety of vehicle models currently sold here.

IRDA’s () idea is to do comprehensive tests — including the crash test — to determine the safety and sturdiness of a vehicle. The results, when extrapolated with the past claims experience, will help the insurance industry to determine the model-wise premium structure.

Motor insurance rates are likely to be liberalised or detariffed from 2004 onwards and insurers are in a dire need of a scientific basis to arrive at a premium rate. Currently the Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) fixes the motor insurance rates on an unscientific basis.

Recently IRDA chairman N Rangachary visited Sundaram Clayton’s test-track facility near Chennai. The company had established the track to test its anti-braking system (ABS).

There is no institution in India similar to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), USA, which continuously looks at the vehicle safety issues. Further, there is no law in India that deals exclusively with vehicle safety. While vehicle recalls due to manufacturing defects are common in the US, it is not so in India, though the quality of Indian manufacturing is nothing much to boast about.

It is a known fact that vehicles, including the princely-priced cars sold in India lack passenger safety gadgets like airbags and collapsible steering wheel. The only safety mechanism that is being touted by the car manufacturers are the side crash bars, which incidentally are of no use in case of a head-on crash or when the vehicle itself is structurally unsound.