After Mistry's death, Centre to make rear seat belts mandatory

The government is planning to make it mandatory for automakers to introduce a seat belt alarm system for rear seats, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.

“In the next three days, we will notify that if one doesn’t wear a seat belt sitting on the rear seat in a car, then he or she will be penalised,” said Gadkari.

Presently, it is mandatory for all vehicle manufacturers to provide seat belt reminders only for front-seat passengers.

“Because of the death of Cyrus Mistry in a car accident, we have taken a decision that there will be a seat belt beep system for the rear seats also in vehicles,” he said while addressing a Business Standard programme to celebrate India@75.

Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was killed in a road accident on Sunday after his car hit a divider in Maharashtra’s Palghar district.

Although not wearing a seat belt by passengers sitting in the rear seats attracts a fine of Rs 1,000 under Rule 138 (3) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), most people are either unaware of this mandatory rule or just ignore them.

Even traffic policemen seldom fine passengers sitting on rear seats for not wearing seat belts.

According to a recent road ministry report, the number of persons killed and injured due to not wearing a seat belt during 2020 stood at 15,146 and 39,102, respectively.