Cyrus Mistry’s death: How the rules on seat belts, airbags will be amended?

The tragic death of business tycoon Cyrus Mistry in a car crash near Mumbai’s Phalghar has put the spotlight once again on road safety in India. Now Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari has stepped in, emphasising the need to follow rules, especially the seat-belt regulations.

Gadkari said that road safety was the “highest agenda” for the country, adding that the accident was a new lesson in how road safety was viewed, where belt regulations in the rear seat were not being followed as per the law.

Also read: Cyrus Mistry accident: How do airbags work? Did they deploy in the Mercedes?

“It will be too early to make any comments on the reason of the accident. But, his accident is unfortunate. Cyrus Mistry was a close friend of mine… Will find out the reason and rectify things, but presently we don’t have any reports. One thing is very important, road safety is the highest agenda for the country and this incident is teaching us a new lesson,” the minister told CNN-News18.

Interaction with CNN News18. pic.twitter.com/XdpUkjIXOb

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) September 6, 2022

How did Cyrus Mistry die?

Mistry was returning from Gujarat’s Udwada to Mumbai with three family friends – brothers Darius and Jehangir Pandole and Darius’s wife Anahita Pandole, who was behind the wheel. The car was reportedly speeding and trying to overtake from the wrong side (the left) when it crashed into a divider at Surya River’s Charoti bridge on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway.

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Mistry and Jehangir Pandole, both of whom were in the back seat of the Mercedes, died in the crash. The duo was not wearing seat belts, according to a preliminary probe. It appears that they must have been thrown in front with great velocity once the speeding car crashed.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC 220d 4MATIC, the SUV Mistry was riding in, comes with seven airbags overall. There are no front-facing airbags for rear passengers in the car and just curtain airbags on the sides, reports PTI. Just like any other car, the airbags are the “supplementary restraint system”. The primary restraint system on cars remains the seat belt.

Does India have seat belt rules?

Multiple studies found that seat belts in cars help reduce fatal injuries and governments across the world made them mandatory. In India, seat belts in the front seat of cars were made mandatory in 1994.

As per the Motor Vehicles Act, seat belts are a must for vehicles manufactured after March 1994. After the act was amended in 1993, manufacturers had to fix seat belts in vehicles. It was confined mostly to the driver’s seat. The fine for driving without the seat belt was Rs 100 and if the offence is repeated it would go up to Rs 300.

On 1 September 2019, new traffic fines came into force. The fine for driving without a seat belt increased to Rs 1000. Along with this, the traffic police can also seize the vehicle or cease the driving licence. However, the penalty may vary from one state to another.
What about seat belts for the back seat?

Rule 138(3) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, says the rear passengers in a car should also wear seat belts. Since October 2002, seat belts in the back seat were made mandatory.

Chapter VI, Control of Traffic of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, Rule 138, Clause 3 states, “It shall be ensured that the driver, and the person seated in the front seat or the persons occupying front- facing rear seats, as the case may be, wear the seat belts while the vehicle is in motion.”
Are these rules followed in India?

Seat-belt safety is often ignored in India. Not many are aware of the rule that mandates rear seat belts. According to a recent road ministry report, the number of persons killed and injured because of not wearing a seat belt during 2020 stood at 15,146 and 39,102, respectively.

Maharashtra’s record when it comes to wearing seat belts is dismal. In 2019, 5.50 lakh challans were issued against motorists not wearing seat belts which increased to 9.14 lakh by September 2022. The total fine imposed was a whopping Rs 23.09 crore, according to a report in The Free Press Journal.

What changes in rules are expected?

After Mistry’s death, Gadkari said that while a law already existed mandating the wearing of seat belts in the back now a fine will be introduced to enforce the rule more stringently. Those not following the rules are expected to be penalised Rs 1000.

The Centre is also planning to make it mandatory for automakers to introduce a seat-belt alarm system for rear seats. There will also be a ban on belt beep-alarm stoppers.

“Actually, there is already a law for people sitting in the backseat. It is mandatory to wear a seat belt. If those at the front don’t wear the seat belt, an alarm goes off. Now, we are making a law by which the manufacturer will do that for the rear seat as well,” Gadkari said.

“If we find people not wearing the belt in the back, they will be fined Rs 1,000. But, our intention is not to penalise people but raise awareness that the law has to be respected and feared to save lives”, Gadkari told CNN-News18, adding that before the end of 2024, reducing 50 per cent accidents and 50 per cent fatalities on the road was difficult but not impossible.

The minister also said that the government was talking to automakers to provide six airbags inside cars. “We are already having discussions with automakers that cars should have six airbags and am confident that the automobile industry will cooperate. The cost of one airbag is Rs 1,000, for six it will be Rs 6,000, but the cost is not important. We have to save lives and that is most important,” he said.

With inputs from agencies

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