400 deaths a day forcing India to take car safety seriously

Mumbai

IN India, more than 150,000 people are killed each year in traffic accidents. That's about 400 fatalities a day and far higher than developed car markets like the US, which in 2016 logged about 40,000.

Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is attempting to curb the carnage on Indian roads caused by everything from speeding two-wheelers to cars not equipped with air bags. A bill introduced in August 2016 - proposing harsher penalties for traffic offences and requiring that carmakers add safety features - has passed the lower house of Parliament and is expected to go through the upper house in 2018.