Bharat NCAP Child Safety Ratings Favour Cars With a Passenger Airbag Switch
Every current Bharat NCAP rating below five child stars belongs to a car whose passenger airbag cannot be switched off, from the Honda Amaze to the Baleno.
Ahead of Children's Day on 14 November, Bharat NCAP child safety ratings show that no car without a way to switch off the front passenger airbag has scored more than 43 out of 49. Thirteen cars that have such a switch reach 45, and the VinFast VF7 leads at 45.25.
Bharat NCAP, the government's crash test programme, lists 37 results on its website. Two of them, the Hyundai Tucson and the first Tata Punch.ev, are marked as no longer on sale, which leaves 35 current ratings.
Where the 49 Points Come From
The child score has three parts under AIS-197, the standard Bharat NCAP tests to. Crash tests with dummies of an 18-month-old and a three-year-old in child seats are worth 24 points. Fitting a list of child seats is worth 12, and checks of the car itself are worth 13.
All 35 cars took the full 12 for child seat fitting, and 18 scored the full 24 in the crash tests. Every car lost at least 3 points in the vehicle checks, where the best score is 10 of 13 and the lowest is 4.
| Vehicle check score (of 13) | Cars | Passenger airbag off switch | Child protection score (of 49) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | VinFast VF6 and VF7 | Yes, automatic | 44.41 to 45.25 |
| 9 | 23 ratings for Tata, Mahindra, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Maruti Suzuki, Skoda, Renault and Nissan models | Yes, manual | 43.66 to 45.00 |
| 7 | Maruti Suzuki Brezza, e Vitara and Victoris | No | 43.00 |
| 7 | Mahindra XUV 400 EV | Yes, manual | 43.00 |
| 6 | Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Baleno | No | 34.81 to 41.57 |
| 5 | Honda Amaze | No | 40.81 |
| 4 | Citroën Aircross and Basalt | No | 35.90 to 40.00 |
The Baleno appears twice on Bharat NCAP's list, once with two airbags and once with six, and both versions score 34.81.
Why the Switch Counts
AIS-197 awards up to 4 of the 13 vehicle points for passenger airbag warnings and disabling. A car whose passenger airbag cannot be turned off can earn only 1 of those 4, for its warning label. The standard says a car should let a child ride safely in a rear-facing seat on the front passenger side.
Labels matter as well. Bharat NCAP raised the XUV 3XO's vehicle check score from 7 to 9 once Mahindra met the marking rules. XUV 3XOs built before a vehicle identification number that Bharat NCAP specifies keep the older child score of 43.
Among the 13 cars on 45 are Kia's new Seltos, the Skoda Kylaq, Tata Punch, Mahindra Thar Roxx, Renault Duster and Toyota Innova HyCross. Each scored 24, 12 and 9 in the three parts.
Five Stars Need 41 Points
AIS-197 sets the child protection bar for five stars at 41 points and for four stars at 35. Five current ratings fall short, and none of those cars has a passenger airbag switch.
The Honda Amaze misses five stars by 0.19 points at 40.81. The Citroën Aircross took the full 24 in the crash tests but scored 4 in the vehicle checks, finishing on 40.00. Its rating covers only the five-seat version.
The Citroën Basalt scores 35.90, and the Baleno's 34.81 falls in the three-star band. The Maruti Suzuki Brezza, e Vitara and Victoris scored full marks in the crash tests and the seat fitting, then lost 6 points in the vehicle checks.
Bharat NCAP describes its ratings as voluntary, and each applies only to the variants its result lists. Of the 146 models in DynoBHP's catalogue, 113 have no Bharat NCAP result.