Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, on Tuesday, announced that rear seat occupants of cars and SUVs not wearing a seat belt will be penalised.
According to him, a notification in this regard would be released in the next three days; he said the Union Ministry of Road Transport will also rope in cricketers and Bollywood actors to create awareness among the public about the need to use seat belts in the back of a car as well.
“In next three days, we will notify that if one doesn’t wear a seat belt sitting in the rear seat in a car, then he or she will be penalised,” he said at an event in the national capital.
The minister’s comment and announcement come in the aftermath of Cyrus Mistry’s death in a car accident on Sunday. Reportedly, the former Tata Sons chairman, who died on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, was in the rear of the car and was not wearing a seat belt.
“Because of Cyrus Mistry's accident, I have decided that in rear seat there will be an alarm for the seat belt like it is for the driver seat,” Gadkari said, and added that his ministry was working towards making six airbags compulsory in all cars, to make them safer for all passengers.
He also announced that his ministry banned manufacturing of a gadget that prevented a car from making a warning sound whenever a front passenger was not wearing a seat belt.
“People think back-seaters don’t need belts. But both front-seaters and back-seaters need to wear seat belts,” the minister said.
"I was in the front seat and found there was a clip so that it does not make any sound when there is no belt. I asked the driver where the belts were, and made sure that I wear the seat belt before the car started,” Gadkari recounted an incident in a chief minister’s car.
“Now I have banned the manufacturing and sales of such clips,” he added.
“The mindset of the common man needs to change to increase road safety. The ministry is taking the help of Bollywood stars, cricketers and the media to spread awareness about this,” he said.
He was also critical of the car manufacturers. He said: “The same company, when it exports those cars, puts in six airbags but when they make them for the locals, they only put four. Are the lives of the poor not worthy of being saved?”
He also said the manufacturers’ argument that increasing the number of airbags will significantly impact the cost of economy cars was fraudulent.