Taking note of the fact that a majority of people sitting on the rear seat of a car do not wear seat belts, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said on Tuesday, September 6, that rear seat occupants found not wearing seat belts will soon be penalised. The minister said that a notification in this regard will be issued in the next three days.
Gadkari's comment came two days after industrialist and former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and his friend Jahangir Pandole were killed when their Mercedes car hit a road divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district. Mistry was reportedly not wearing a seat belt.
"A notification will be issued in the next three days that if one doesn't wear a seat belt while sitting on the rear seat of a car, he or she will be penalised. After the tragic case of Cyrus Mistry, I have decided that there will be an alarm for seat belt on the rear seat like the driver's seat. A penalty will be imposed for not wearing seat belt while sitting on the rear seat of a car," Gadkari said while talking to the media.
The minister said that the highest number of people dying in road accidents in India are from the 18-34 age group.
On the sidelines of an event on Monday, Gadkari had said that people think that passengers sitting in the rear seat don't need to wear seat belts. "This is the problem. I don't want to make any comments on any accident. But both front-seaters and back-seaters need to wear seat belts," he said.
The minister also questioned why car makers offer six airbags on export versions of cars while the same cars sold in India are fitted only with four airbags. As per a WHO report, wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of death among drivers and front seat occupants by 45-50 per cent, and the risk of death and serious injuries among rear seat occupants by 25 per cent.
Passengers sitting in rear seats have nothing to hold them into their position in case of an accident if the seat belt is not strapped in. A rear seat passenger not wearing seat belts, in case of an accident, is prone to hitting the front seat's backrest. This can lead to whiplash injury, often impacting vertebrae and cutting oxygen supply to the brain. In many cases, a rear passenger without a seat belt can collide with the front seat, pushing the front passenger into the dashboard or deploying an airbag, posing a fatal risk. It has been seen that in a few cases, the rear passengers can even fly out of the windscreen or hit the dashboard or steering wheel.