Indian traffic conditions are not at par with developed countries such as Japan, and in addition to equipping vehicles with safety features, a lot more needs to be done here to educate vehicle users to reduce road accidents and fatalities, said Maruti Suzuki managing director Hisashi Takeuchi.
India has the highest number of road fatalities in the world with one death reported every three minutes in 2023. There is an increase in awareness about the safety features of vehicles among consumers and carmakers can play an important role in educating vehicle users about road safety, Takeuchi said.
“My personal view of the Indian traffic situation is, (it is) not at par to the one in Japan. Sometimes I see people driving in the other direction, coming in the direction of people driving. People don’t follow lanes. So, there is a role actually for us to improve the situation,” he said.
Takeuchi spoke on the sidelines of the launch of the all new DZire (priced Rs 6.79-10.14 lakh before road tax, insurance and registration cost).
As many as 173,000 lives were lost in road crashes in 2023, The Times of India had reported, citing data shared by states with the central government. This was the highest number of people killed in a year since the government started collating road accident data at the national level to assess the extent of the problem and reasons behind crashes.
“Adding (safety) feature to the product is not enough. I think we have to cover lots of other aspects also. For example, (we need to better the) awareness of the customer, (give) education to the customer,” said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at the country’s largest carmaker. “Even if we have a good airbag system and three-point seatbelt, if they (passengers) don’t wear a seatbelt, the airbag may work adversely to the occupant. So that’s very important for our customers to understand that they follow the exact instructions from the OEM (original equipment manufacturer).” The company has been setting up driving schools to educate vehicle users of road safety guidelines.
Nitin Gadkari, the minister of road transport and highways, conceded at the 64th Annual Convention of Auto Component Manufacturers Association that his ministry had not been able to curtail the number of road accidents and related fatalities despite its best efforts.
India reported 500,000 road accidents and 1.68 lakh fatalities in 2022, translating into nearly 53 accidents and 19 deaths every hour, Gadkari’s ministry said in a report. It has yet to release the official data for 2023.
Of these fatalities in 2022, two-thirds of the people were in the age group of 18 to 36. Almost 45% of the accidents involved two-wheelers and 20% pedestrians, according to the minister. In 2022, around 30,000 road fatalities were attributed to non-usage of helmets and another 30,000 were near institutional areas. Gadkari had urged auto industry leaders to create awareness regarding road safety among the masses — particularly among the school children — by utilising their CSR funds. The minister had also conceded that faulty road engineering had been another major cause of the high number of road accidents, adding, the Centre’s “target is to reduce the accidents by 50%”.
Separately, Maruti Suzuki said despite the increase in consumer preference for SUVs, it has been able to arrest the decline in the sales in the entry-level hatchback segment. Retail sales of small cars Alto and S-Presso rose 10% in October. Banerjee said, “Quarter one to quarter two, we could arrest the decline actually in the entry hatch segment. In the month of October, we saw good traction.”
Maruti Suzuki said while it will continue to introduce new vehicles in the fast-growing SUV segment in line with customer requirements, it will work on upgrading hatchbacks and sedans too to offer wider choices to buyers.
Takeuchi said: “Right now, the demand is skewed to SUVs, and we need to introduce more SUVs into the market.” The capacity is not unlimited, but the existing models must be renewed every three to six years, he said, adding: “That we have to maintain.”
