Rear Seatbelts Will Be Mandatory for all the passengers in a Car

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways have said that wearing seatbelts will be compulsory for all the passengers in a car. Speaking at an event Nitin Gadkari said that violators will be fined, and a thorough notification on the new rule, with the accurate amount to be charged as penalty, will be issued soon. 

The unfortunate demise of former Tata Sons Chairman, Cyrus Mistry, raised concern over suitable utilization of security equipment provided in a car. Mistry was caught up in a fatal accident on the Ahmedabad – Mumbai Highway as the Mercedes-Benz GLC he was travelling in, lost control and crashed into a divider near Palghar. According to the inquiry, Mistry, seated in the back seat, was not wearing a seatbelt, which led to severe deadly injuries. Taking a note of it, the Minister of Road, Transport and Highways has declared planning to make wearing seatbelts compulsory even for back passengers.

Because of the Cyrus Mistry mishap, I have decided that in back seat there will be an alarm for seatbelt like it is for the driver seat. There will be fine for not wearing seatbelt in back seats in cars, Gadkari said at India@75 conversation. 

Mistry, along with Jehangir Pandole was sitting at the back seat, both without seatbelts on, while Anahita Pandole and Darius Pandole who were at the front with seatbelts warped, survived with several injuries.

Seatbelts play a vital part in saving lives and are the most important passive safety feature in a car. In fact, there are chances of postponement in airbags deployment if seatbelts are not strapped in, which could be even more unsafe as it defeats the purpose of having numerous airbags as a passive safety feature.