- Seatbelts are the first line of protection in a moving vehicle that meets with an accident or crashes.
All new cars sold in the United States from September of 2027 will have to sound warning alarms if passengers in the backseat do not fasten their respective seatbelts. The move is aimed at increasing safety of all occupants in case of an accident or crash. Closer home in India, several new car models already come with such a safety system although it is not mandated by law yet.
What is significant about the mandatory audio warning in case all occupants are not buckled in inside a vehicle on US roads is that the rule applies to not just passenger vehicles but to trucks and buses as well, barring school buses. This was announced formerly by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an agency under the US federal government primarily tasked with increasing road safety.
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Wearing seatbelts even in the rear seats of a car is mandatory in as many as 33 states in the US. Even children need to be fastened behind seat belts in many of these states although the age varies from state to state. But while the seatbelt rule for driver and front passenger is strictly enforced, it is reported that backseat belt rules are not monitored closely in these states. And this is what NHTSA is looking at addressing by making audio warnings mandatory in new vehicles.
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Additionally, NHTSA has also stated that the new rules will call on automakers to enhance warnings for those in the front seats if the seatbelts are not fastened.
What are the seatbelt rules in India?
Seatbelts are the primary safety mechanism for passengers in a vehicle in case of an accident. In India, it is mandatory by law for the front passenger and driver to wear seatbelts when the vehicle is in motion, regardless of speed. The penalty for violations can invite fines of up to 10,000.
But what about those at the back? In the aftermath of the car crash that saw the death of Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry in 2022, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari made seatbelts mandatory even for backseat passengers. This applies to vehicles of all types and categories.
Also Read : What Gadkari said about seatbelts for all
Several car models – even those in the mass-market segment – launched over the past two years feature seatbelt alarms when backseat passengers are detected minus the seatbelts in place.
But many experts continue to point out that monitoring and enforcement of the backseat belt rule is lax in India and that the penalty amount needs to be increased in order to ensure that all occupants inside a vehicle are buckled in.
Why are seatbelts important?
The three-point seatbelt was developed by Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin for Volvo. But the company did not file any patent rights so that the technology can be used in vehicles across the world and regardless of brands.
Numerous studies over the past several decades have repeatedly shown the ability of seatbelts to prevent or limit injuries. The risk of fatality also comes down by around 50 percent for those in the front of a car that has met with an accident, compared to if they were not wearing the seatbelts. For backseat passengers, chances of fatality is down by 75 per cent.
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First Published Date: 17 Dec 2024, 14:13 PM IST
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