Seat belts to be mandatory for passengers in back seats soon: Nitin Gadkari

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the government is soon planning to make wearing of seatbelts mandatory for all passengers while also asking carmakers to provide at least six airbags in eight-seater vehicles for enhanced safety of occupants from October.

The statement comes days after former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry died in a car crash. Mistry who was sitting in the rear seat of a Mercedez was not wearing a seat belt when the driver crashed it into a divider in the Palghar district, leading to the death of Mistry and another passenger.

“Already, it is mandatory to wear seat belt at the rear seat but people are not following it. There will be a siren if people at the rear seat don’t wear belts like for the front seats. And if they don’t wear belts, there will be a fine,” Gadkari told NDTV on Tuesday.

Also read: Cyrus Mistry’s death puts focus on wearing seat belt while in car’s back seat

He said the minimum fine for not wearing seat belt would be ₹1,000.

Stating that the chief goal was to spread awareness, the minister said the government aims to cut down on the frequency of road accidents by 50 per cent by 2024.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in a statement said that in order to enhance the safety of occupants of the motor vehicle against lateral impact, it has been decided to enhance safety features by amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989. “A draft notification has been issued on January 14, 2022, which mandates that vehicles of category M1, manufactured after October 1, 2022, shall be fitted with two side/side torso air bags, one each for the persons occupying front row outboard seating positions, and two side curtain/tube air bags, one each for the persons occupying outboard seating positions,” it had said.

“Koshish toh hai (we are trying),” Gadkari said when asked whether the government will make minimum six airbags mandatory in vehicles carrying up to eight passengers from October this year.

An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system which interferes between the driver and the vehicles dashboard during a collision, thereby preventing serious injuries.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, over 1.55 lakh lives were lost in road crashes across India in 2021 – an average of 426 daily or 18 every single hour – which is the highest death figures recorded in any calendar year so far.

According to the report titled Road accidents in India-2020, more than 11 per cent of deaths and injuries were caused due to non-usage of seat belts.

Also read: ‘Cyrus Mistry suffered head injuries, didn’t have seat belt on’

Last year, Gadkari in an interview to PTI had said small cars, mostly purchased by lower middle-class people, should also have an adequate number of airbags and had wondered why automakers are providing eight airbags only in big cars bought by rich people. His remarks had come against the backdrop of the automobile industry raising concerns that high taxation and stricter safety and emission norms for vehicles have made their products expensive.

“Mostly, lower middle-class people buy small economy cars and if their cars won’t have airbags and when accidents happen, then it may result in deaths. So, I appeal to all car manufacturers to provide a minimum of six airbags across all variants and segments of the vehicle,” he had said.

(With inputs from agencies)