Euro 6, 2 Airbags, ESC Mandatory Now — Safer Imports or Pricing Out the Average Buyer?

Since this year, any petrol or diesel vehicle imported to Sri Lanka has to meet the Euro 6 emission standard, plus mandatory ABS, ESC and at least two airbags — Euro 4 imports, which made up a lot of the cheap used stock from Japan, are no longer accepted. That rules out a chunk of the budget end of the market and pushes buyers toward pricier late-model cars, hybrids or EVs instead. One side says this is overdue: cleaner air, safer cars in crashes, and it nudges the whole market toward hybrids and EVs anyway, which we should be doing regardless. The other side says it's one more rule that quietly prices out the ordinary buyer who just wanted a basic, reliable car, while people with money keep importing whatever they want and the rest are left bidding on an even smaller pool of older vehicles already on the road. Is this actually making roads safer, or just shrinking affordable choices further? If you've tried to import or clear a vehicle recently, did the Euro 6 or airbag requirement change what you could bring in, or push you toward a different model than you originally wanted? මේ නීති නිසා අපිට ලාබෙට විශ්වාසවන්ත කාර් එකක් ගන්න තියෙන choices අඩු වෙලා තියෙනවද?