Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification on draft rules to make it mandatory for car manufacturers to install an alarm system for rear seat belts.
According to the notification, the due date for public opinion on draft rules is October 5.
In July 2019, the Ministry of Roads made it obligatory for all car manufacturers to have seat belt reminders.
At present, all car manufacturers provide seat belt alarm reminders for front-seat passengers only. Fine will be imposed on those who fail to wear seat belts.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari said “the ministry is planning to minimise the road accidents and its related fatalities to half by the end of 2024”.
Mr Gadkari said the government hoped to finalise a draft for a mandatory six airbags in all cars this year.
He further added that the Ministry of Road plans to enforce this rule strictly and will introduce penalties for defying laws.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways also wrote a letter to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution to order the e-commerce companies to put an end to selling or offering devices that are designed to disable car seat belt alarms.
Ministry of Roads complaints to CCPA
Earlier in May, Based on the Ministry of Road complaint about devices that are designed to disable car seat belt alarms, the Central Consumer Protection Authority sent notices to e-commerce companies selling such devices.
E-commerce platforms market the disabled alarm devices as ‘easy to install and work just like a replica of a normal car seat belt buckle to stop the alarm sound.
Devices are available on e-commerce platforms priced between 150 to 600 based on the quality.
Ban on sale of devices disables the alarm
Selling such devices on e-commerce is considered a violation of law and applicable rules will be enforced on the rules breaker. Cheat devices transgress traffic rules, which cannot be manufactured or sold.
The Motor Vehicle Act 1988, states that anyone who sells or offers to sell illegal items is punishable with a fine of Rs 1 lakh and imprisonment up to one year or both applicable, according to government officials.
Traffic violation applicable to rear seat passengers.
For rear seat passengers, they were no strict action for those who fail to wear seat belts. Even traffic officials are hardly fine rear seat passengers for not wearing seat belts.
As per Rule 138(3) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 says even rear seat passengers not wearing a seat belt attract a fine of Rs 1,000.
According to the Ministry of Road ‘Road Accidents in India Report 2020’, the number of people killed and injured due to not wearing a seat belt stood at 15,146 and 39,102, respectively.
Draft rules for mandatory rear seat belts alarm system
As per the Ministry of Road draft, seat belt reminders will be obligatory for categories of M and N vehicles. An audio-video warning will remind in case of the seat belts, including the rear ones, are not worn.
M Category vehicles are those having at least four wheels and are used for carrying passengers. while motor vehicles having at least four wheels are used for carrying goods and also passengers fall under N Category.
In addition, there will be a reverse parking alert and speed alert system to check over-speeding and manual override for the central locking system.
In M1 Category vehicles (vehicles not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat) should have a speed alert system to alert the driver in case of over speeds, driver and all front facing seat passengers safety belt reminder, driver and codriver airbag, manual override for the central locking system.
A child safety lock is not allowed in M1 category vehicles, according to the draft notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
A three-level alarm system will be installed to alert drivers if passengers are without seatbelts. The system is constituted by the detection of an unfastened safety belt and by a driver’s alert which is a first-level warning and a second-level warning.
“First Level Warning” means a visual warning activated when the ignition switch is engaged (engine running or not) and the driver’s and front-facing seat occupants’ safety belt is not fastened. An audible warning can be added as an option, said the proposal.
“Second Level Warning” means a visual and audible warning activated when a driver operates a vehicle without the fastening of the driver and/or front-facing seat occupants’ safety belts.
‘Safety-Belt is not fastened’ warning will be activated, this indicates at the option of the manufacturer, either the driver and /or the rear seat passengers’ safety-belt buckle is not engaged or the belt length pulled out of the retractor is 100 mm or less.
