Did You Know Rear Seat Belts Are Mandatory In India?
Rear seat belts are mandatory but many people are not aware of this fact.
Rear seat belts are in focus after the fatal crash that killed Cyrus Mistry, industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons Pvt.
Mistry was travelling in the rear seat along with Jehangir Pandole in the car that crashed near Mumbai, according to the police. Both of them were not wearing seat belts, media reports said citing the police. Pandole, too, died in the accident.
The driver and the front passenger were seriously injured but survived the crash.
More than 1.55 lakh people died in India in road accidents in 2021. And according to a report by the Road Transport and Highway Ministry for 2020, more than 11% of deaths and injuries are caused by not using seat belts.
Under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, manufacturers of M1 vehicles—passenger cars—have to equip every motor vehicle with seats not just for the front passengers, but also those occupying the front-facing rear seat.
In a motor vehicle, in which seat-belts have been provided under sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (1-A) of rule 125 or rule 125-A, as the case may be, it shall be ensured that the driver, and the person seated in the front seat or the persons occupying front facing rear seats, as the case may be, wear the seat belts while the vehicle is in motion.Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989
Road deaths have been consistently rising in India, barring 2020 when the Covid-19 lockdown curtailed travel.
In the calendar year 2021, over 1.55 lakh people were killed in road accidents, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. While the number of accidents was lower in 2020 due to travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 lockdown, still 1.31 lakh people died on the road.
According to NCRB data, 4,03,116 road accidents occurred in 2021 compared with 3,54,796 in 2020.
National highways—with only 2.08% of total road network in the country—accounted for 36.4% of fatalities during 2020, followed by other roads (38.4%) and state highways (25.2%).