Govt to make ADAS-like blind spot detection mandatory in all new cars to reduce accidents

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are becoming the new common among carmakers to make their premium vehicles more appealing to customers, however, we have not seen large scale adoption of these safety technologies among mass economy models or commercial vehicles such as trucks. However, a new draft proposed by the ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) could make ADAS safety functions like ‘blind spot monitoring’ a standard feature across several segments of four-wheelers and commercial vehicles.The ministry has proposed collision warning systems to be specified under the automotive industry standard.

According to the PTI report, MoRTH has defined the installation of an inbuilt ‘Moving Off Information System’ or MOIS in the identified categories of vehicles. The system is intended to alert the driver when a pedestrian, child or cyclist are in close proximity and avoid a potential collision. This is exactly what ADAS blind spot detection systems do and advanced systems are also capable of autonomously applying the brakes in more serious situations. If such a system is made available across all segments of passenger cars then it could potentially bring down India’s road accident statistics by a big margin.

According to the report, road accident in India went up by 12 percent in 2022, to 4.6 lakh, with an average of 19 deaths every hour. Out of these ‘Hit from Back’ or blind spot related accidents accounted for the largest share of 19.5 percent. In line with the MoRTH proposal, Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari, has also announced the ministry’s target to reduce the number of fatal accidents in the country by half by 2024.

While standardising of such a safety system would further increase the purchasing cost of new cars, what are your thoughts on the MoRTH proposal? Let us know in the comments.