INDIAN SAFETY RATINGS FOR CARS

THE BHARAT NEW CAR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM RATES THEM FOR BOTH ADULT AND CHILD OCCUPANT PROTECTION

- YOGENDRA PRATAP

Good news folks-BNCAP or the Bharat New Car Assessment Program is here and the first to be rated under it is the Tata Harrier/Safari family, which has got a five-star rating for both Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) as well as for Child Occupant Protection (COP). That is the good news, but what does it mean? First and foremost, BNCAP is a voluntary programme, which means it is not mandatory for car manufacturers to give their cars for crash testing to get a BNCAP safety rating. They may get their vehicles crash-tested and evaluated if they want to. And why would they want to? To instil a sense of confidence among the car-buying public that the car is safe and also because they have to pay a fraction of the cost to get a safety rating from BNCAP as opposed to other new car assessment programmes, specifically Global NCAP. After all five stars do seem to be the pinnacle of all ratings.