Supreme Court Orders Mandatory Safety Features On Motorcycles

In a major ruling which can help reduce accidents and is also likely to impact sales of motorcycles in India, the Supreme Court has ruled that only motorcycles which have some safety features for pillion riders like a saree guard, and hand grips can be registered and allowed on the country's roads. The Supreme Court today dismissed an appeal filed by SIAM against a Madhya Pradesh High Court order of Nov 2008 which had banned registration of motorcycles which did not have safety features for pillion riders. In 2008, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had banned the sale of motorcycles in the state unless they had saree guards or hand grips for the pillion rider.

All motorcycles which are manufactured or assembled in India have a factory-fitted saree guard

Two-wheeler companies had moved the Supreme Court in 2008 against the High Court order and won a reprieve after the Supreme Court stayed the order. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had appealed to the Supreme Court against the 2008 Madhya Pradesh High Court order, but now the Supreme Court has rejected SIAM's plea, instead putting a question mark on the sales of motorcycles which do not have saree guards or these additional safety features for pillion riders. SIAM had argued that not all pillion riders are women and the design of two-wheelers had already been approved and it would be difficult to change it now.

But it's still not clear if the Supreme Court's dismissal of SIAM's appeal will mean that all motorcycles need to have hand grips for the pillion riders in the middle of the seat, or saree guards will have to re-designed to cover more of the rear wheel. The Madhya Pradesh High Court order of 2008 had in fact asked for precisely that, ostensibly in the interest of the safety of the pillion rider.

Premium bikes which are not assembled or manufactured in India do not need a saree guard

So far, there's been no response from either SIAM or any motorcycle manufacturer. Most motorcycles which are made in India, or even assembled in India from completely knocked down (CKD) kits do have saree guards, but there are no hand grips in the middle of the seat, between the rider and pillion to hold on. And motorcycles which have so far been brought in as full imports, as completely built units (CBUs) and even under free trade agreements (FTA) after being assembled in countries such as Thailand were exempt from the saree guard rule. The latest Supreme Court order making saree guard mandatory for all motorcycles will largely impact those manufacturers which were dependent on mostly imported bikes which were being sold in India. But if the order to implement additional safety measures for pillion riders come into effect, it will have far reaching consequences, even for high-volumes commuter models, which will have to re-designed to make them road-worthy.

As of now, it's still not clear if the dismissal of the appeal means saree guards will be mandatory for all motorcycles or whether hand grips will now be mandatory on motorcycles in the interest of pillion safety.  If the ruling means that motorcycles with hand grips in the middle of the seat can only be sold from now on, it will mean a complete shake-up of the two-wheeler industry, and from the looks of it, more appeals and court intervention will likely follow.