Seat belt alarm system for all passengers soon : We have traffic rules, but roads will be safer when Indians learn to follow them

Industrialist Cyrus Mistry’s death in a car accident has brought road safety under the glare of the national spotlight. The former Tata Sons chairman was reportedly sitting on the rear seat of the Mercedes Benz he was travelling in with his co passengers on Sunday when he met with the fateful accident. He was not wearing a seat belt.

The Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR) do mandate wearing a seat belt for all passengers and Rule 138 (3) under CMVR says that not doing so will attract a fine of Rs 1000. However, most people are unaware of the same and even policemen do not fine passengers for not securing belts when seated at the rear.

Speaking to the media following the accident, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that wearing belts at the rear seats would also be enforced. He also said that an alarm would go off if all passengers did not belt up. Gadkari informed that the government is in talks with car manufacturers to introduce this alarm feature in vehicles of all ranges.

Road safety goal

The government aims to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2024. Making seat belts for all passengers mandatory and an alarm reminder to strap it on as well as fines to ensure compliance are part of the efforts to reduce preventable deaths.

Gadkari has also been pressing for cars to be equipped with six airbags. It has long been argued by manufacturers that including airbags would drive up the cost of vehicles, especially those in the small car segment, adversely affecting sales. However, the minister emphasised that the cost of one airbag is Rs 1,000, for six, it is Rs 6,000. He argued that with a greater volume of production, cost will be reduced. “Cost is not important, people’s lives are,” he said.

Dual airbags (driver and passenger) became mandatory on all vehicles this January. And Gadkari has made clear the intention to install six airbags in each passenger car with a passenger limit of up to eight even though no timeline has been set for it.

But will Indians follow the rules?

Even as cars come better endowed with features to keep passengers safe, can road fatality significantly be prevented if Indians continue to drive the way they do? Cars can be made safer but they cannot drive for us. Well, even self-driving cars are not equipped to navigate the wilderness that is the Indian road. Technology needs data and order to be able to make accurate predictions and our streets thrive on chaos. Nothing short of a revolution would be needed to induce the public to drive safely.

Drunk driving, driving on the wrong side and the desire to jump red lights are common problems. Drivers speed up when they see a yellow traffic light, which is meant to be an indication to slow down. Lane driving and overtaking from the correct side are practices perhaps most consider superfluous and are guided by the logic that the car can be driven wherever they find space on the road to do so.

Pedestrians and cyclists are equal stakeholders of the road infrastructure but often streets are not designed keeping such commuters in mind. Even where they are provided facilities, people are inclined to choose the fastest way to get from one point to another, opting to dodge traffic to cross a street rather than walk to the nearest crossing or subway/overhead pathway.

These old habits die hard. Cars can and should be safer but it is only when the person behind the wheel learns to respect the rules will Indian roads truly be safe.