Seatbelts mandatory for all car passengers: Gadkari

New Delhi: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has announced that seatbelts will be mandatory for all passengers riding in a four-wheeler.

Gadkari said the government intends to make it mandatory for automakers to include a seat-belt alarm system for rear seats. Currently, all vehicle manufacturers are required to provide seat belt reminders only to front-seat passengers.

While speaking at an event, he said, "Because of the death of Cyrus Mistry in a car accident, we have taken a decision that there will be a seat belt beep system for the rear seats also in vehicles."

His remarks came just days after former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was killed in a road accident in Maharashtra's Palghar district on September 4 after his car collided with a divider.

Although not wearing a seat belt by passengers in the back seats is punishable by a Rs 1,000 fine under Rule 138 (3) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), most people are either unaware of this mandatory rule or simply disregard it. Even traffic officers rarely fine rear-seat passengers for not wearing seat belts.