The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will be implementing the new bus body code in India starting from October 1. The new code aims to enhance bus safety in India.
The code brings about many new guidelines that need to be adhered by all the new buses that are being registered from the said date.
The new guidelines will not affect the existing 16 lakh odd buses plying in the country.The existing 16 lakh odd buses across the country would, however, be unaffected by the new code. It is devised jointly by Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT), Automotive Research Association of India, Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) and the Society for Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
The work on coming up with a new bus body code started back in 2001 and after so many years, it has finally come to implementation stage. Over these years, the concerned authorities have been holding discussions, seminars, and workshops with all the stakeholders including OEMs who make the chassis and the coach builders who build the buses.
All new buses that will be registered from October 1, 2016, have to adhere to the new bus body code.The government has come up with an accreditation method to urge the coach builders to adhere to the new norms. Already 500 coach builders in the nation have been accredited and only those firms which have received the type approval can register at the RTO and build coaches.
Also read – ABS is mandatory for trucks and buses in India
The new bus body code includes more space for driver cabin to reduce fatigue, emergency doors, fire extinguishers, proper illumination and ventilation of the cabin, more leg room for passenger seats, and better insulation of windows and doors to avoid rain water and dust filtering into the cabin.
Via – Economictimes.Indiatimes.com
