In lieu to make road trips safer for common people, the government today ordered permanently lit headlights for two-wheelers. Right from April 2017, all two-wheelers will have a provision of AHOs (Automatic Headlights) which will be somewhat similar to Daytime Running Lights found on cars. Once vehicles are equipped with such system, riders wouldn’t need to care about switching headlights on and off as complete system is automatic.
Previously, the Supreme Court allotted a committee to take care of issues related to road safety. The provision of AHO was also supported by them. AHOs will be very helpful in preventing road accidents involving two-wheelers. This rule has already been in play in several European nations since 2003. Two-wheelers accounted for around 32, 524 road accidents in the year 2014 alone. Apart from this, approx. 1, 27, 452 people suffered severe injuries on roads because of two-wheelers. The step will prove highly beneficial for road safety and accident prevention. These will also help in improving visual quality for and of the vehicles at dusk and dawn. The headlight visibility in AHOs can also be improved easily by customizing lamp’s intensity, luminosity, and color.
Steps like permanently lit headlights for two-wheelers come in the wake of a recent report submitted by WHO which stated that more than 200,000 lives were lost due to road accidents in the year 2015. This accounts for around 46 percent of the total numbers stated by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). As per this report, the Indian road safety laws do not meet the prerequisites of top five risk factors mentioned for road accidents. Therefore, strict actions are required to make our roads a safer place.
