Nitin Gadkari sounds penalty alarm for not wearing seat belt on rear seats

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari (File image: Reuters)

Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari has announced at an event that a penalty will be levied on passengers not wearing seat belts in the rear seats in cars.

The move comes after the recent death of business tycoon Cyrus Mistry in a tragic car accident on this way to Mumbai. Reports stated that Mistry was seated in the rear seats and was not wearing a seatbelt. His life could have been saved if he had worn a seatbelt.

Gadkari said that the government will release a notification in the next three days detailing the penalty involved if a passenger fails to wear a seatbelt. He said, "previously there was a penalty for not wearing seatbelt for the driver and co-passenger only, but we have updated the law to include rear seat passengers as well."

The minister further said that a beeper for not wearing a seatbelt will go off for the rear seats as well and that the move is already in talks with various car manufacturers. This feature will now require to be included in cars of all price ranges.

"Presently, we have this arrangement where if people in the front seat are not wearing seat belt, a siren/sound goes off. Now, we have already taken a decision that if the back seat people are not wearing seat belt, then a sound will go off as well. This will create awareness in the mind of the people. And if the camera catches the images of the people, and it finds that they are not wearing seat belt, we will charge fine from them," said Gadkari.

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. Even traffic policemen seldom fine passengers sitting on rear seats for not wearing seat belts.

On how soon the rear seat seat belt rule will be enforced, Gadkari said, "Today, I just signed the file and within 4-5 days we will issue the order. Now, it is a subject in the concurrent list and the state government is supposed to take action on it. It is very important because we have already faced a lot of accidents and unfortunately the accident of my dear friend, Cyrus Mistry - is painful for all of us. By the end of 2024, my target is to reduce 50% accidents and 50% deaths in the country."

According to a recent road ministry report, the number of persons killed and injured due to not wearing a seat belt during 2020 stood at 15,146 and 39,102, respectively.