NEW DELHI, Sept 6: The centre is mulling to impose heavy fines if the passengers sitting on the back seats of a car were found not wearing a seat belt, the union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
He was reacting on the compulsory wearing of the seat belts in view of the death of the former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry in a road accident on the Ahmedabad – Mumbai highway on Sunday. Reports said Mistry who was seated on the rear seat of his Mercedes car was not wearing the seat belt at the time of the accident when the car hit the road divider in a great speed and sustained serious head and chest injuries as he and his co-passenger thumped against front seats.
“Already, it’s mandatory to wear seat belt at the rear seat but people are not following it. There will be a siren if the people at the rear seat don’t wear belts like for the front seats. And if they don’t wear belts, there will be a fine,” Gadkari said stressing that “at any cost, lives have to be saved”.
Taking fines is not the motive but spreading awareness is, said Gadkari on the compulsory use of seat belts for those sitting in the back. He said by 2024 the goal is to reduce the road fatalities by 50 per cent. “The minimum fine is ₹ 1,000…There are cameras and anywhere people who aren’t following can be caught easily,” Gadkari said.
About compulsory installation of airbags in the back seat hiking up the cost of the car, the minister underscored the importance of saving lives than cost reduction. “Cost of 1 airbag is 1,000, for 6, it’s 6,000. With more production, the cost will be reduced. Cost is not important, people’s lives are,” he emphasised.
As per the regulations, airbags are mandatory for the front passenger and the driver in India. As of January 2022, the government has made it mandatory to install 6 airbags in each passenger car with a passenger limit of up to 8. Celebrities are campaigning for road safety, said the Minister, adding that he seeks cooperation from media.
“I am really very sorry and feeling bad. We should take the lesson and learn from it,” Gadkari said on Cyrus Mistry’s death. More than 59,000 people have died and 80,000 seriously injured in road accidents in Maharashtra alone in less than five years, the data released by the highway police on Tuesday revealed.
According to a report titled ‘Road accidents in India – 2020’, more than 11 per cent of deaths and injuries were caused due to non-usage of seat belts, while 30.1 per cent of deaths and 26 per cent of injuries were caused due to non-usage of helmets in 2020.
(Manas Dasgupta)