Indian Government Mandates Wearing Seat Belts in the Rear

Following the loss of important lives in car accidents and this being one of the major causes of deaths in any country today, the Indian Government mandates wearing seat belts.

After the loss of life of another extraordinary person was documented recently, the Union Road Transport Minister of India found it important to make wearing the rear seat belts a compulsion. The demise of the Late Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry shook up the corporate world. Had he not been in the car accident, the company would not have lost a credible leader. The shocking instance has led to a change in the thought process of several Indians as well.

Nitin Gadkari has now made it a compulsion for individuals in the back seat to wear seatbelts. While the existing car owners must make sure the seat belts are worn by passengers in the rear seats, the new models are directed to have an alarm inbuilt in the vehicles if a rear passenger does not have a rear seat belt on.

When an opinion of Indians was taken on this particular subject, 90% of the vehicle owners and citizens agreed that the rule will safeguard the interests of many individuals and gave positive feedback on this. Especially in the metropolitan cities where traffic is always on the higher side, the compulsion of this ruling is anticipated to reduce the number of accidental deaths and promote the idea of safety and security.

However, there some leading concerns that were highlighted by the respondents as well. Some of these include:

  1. Roughly 60% of the people pointed out that wearing a seatbelt in the rear seat can prove to be very uncomfortable and it may not be entirely practical if there is more than one person in the backseat.
  2. It may cause inconvenience for individuals who plan long drives on a consistent basis.
  3. It may become a strong challenge for senior citizens in the near future or the disabled citizens.

Even though the introduction of the idea and the ruling is welcomed with open arms by Indians; however, the practicality of the same might have to be double checked before fines are introduced to execute the ruling stringently.