December 2015 notes prepared by Global NCAP in safety awareness following “Safer Cars in India” program.
40. The experts from Global NCAP and from ANEC on behalf of Consumers International introduced GRSP-63-14 which proposes to include L7 (quadricycles) categories of vehicles in the scope of UN Regulation No. 137, in line with the recommendation of the WP.29 (GRSP-63-15 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1141, para. 41) aimed at offering a minimum protection to L7 vehicle occupants in case of a crash. They also mentioned GRSP-63-16, for information, concerning the “Public Interest Litigation Regarding Motor Vehicle Safety in India”. They added that quadricycles are not subject to the same legislation as conventional passenger cars and their crashworthiness should be addressed by GRSP as recommended by WP.29. They stressed the risk that consumers buy this type of vehicle to cater to an individual’s need for a car but without being informed about the lack of safety requirements in those vehicles which might expose them to serious injuries in case of a crash. They indicated that NCAP tests showed cases of safety-belts that snapped off and even ineffective airbags and revealing that these types of restraint systems and performance of this type of vehicles were far below similarly-sized passenger car. Moreover, they informed GRSP that L7 vehicles are becoming more popular, also because they are considered as new environmentally friendly mobility solutions and are expected to become more numerous in the future. They clarified that the proposal of Global NCAP and Consumer International to extend the scope of UN Regulation No. 137 to L7 vehicle would be in line with the test speed scenarios and biomechanical injury criteria that provide for the safety of occupants, as in other types of passenger vehicles.