Wearing Seat Belts at the Rear Becomes Compulsory
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that wearing seat belts will be compulsory for all the passengers in a car.
Recently, we have covered the News of Cyrus Mistry’s death caused by a road accident. Cyrus Mistry was sitting in the rear seat. The two people that survived were sitting in front with seat belts on. After which, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that wearing seat belts will be compulsory for all the passengers in a car. Also, the government is planning to make it mandatory for carmakers to introduce a seat belt alarm system for rear seats also, he further said. Presently, it is mandatory for all vehicle manufacturers to provide seat belt reminders only for front-seat passengers. 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.
Now after the announcement made by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, It is important to understand why seat belts are important for passengers sitting in the rear seats too. During Cyrus Mistry’s death, there were four people in the vehicle, of which two, including Mistry, died on the spot. Notably, both the passengers who were sitting on the rear seat died in the accident, whereas the passengers sitting in the front with their seatbelts survived. All the cars have rear seat belts as per government regulation, but very few people use them and it is an illusion that the rear is very safe. Airbags are of no use if the seat belt is not strapped which is the first line of defence during an accident. Air bag is the second line of defence only if the first fails to perform its duty. If you do not lock your seat belt properly, airbags of the car will not open
Moreover, during the time of crash the person sitting in the back seat is sometimes thrown at a force of 40G which is 40 times the gravity, which also means the person weighing 80kgs will feel like 3200kgs. Also, If the front passenger is wearing a seat belt and the rear passenger is not, during the time of a crash the front passenger is likely to be severely injured or killed due to the rear passenger falling with the weight of an Elephant. Now the question is when we pay a huge amount of money to carmakers for the safety features, why don’t we use them? Cyrus Mistry’s death is a lesson for everyone of us to start using seat belts even while we are sitting in the back seat of a car. What do you think about this?Do you wear seat belts in the rear seat? Do mention your thoughts in the comment section below.
