Guwahati: The government has made three-point seat belts mandatory for all cars with front-facing passenger seats, said Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday (February 10).
“I have signed a file yesterday to make it mandatory for automakers to provide three-point seat belts for all the front facing passengers in a car,” Union minister said.
Currently, only the front seats and two rear seats in most cars produced in the country have three-point seat belts. However, the centre or middle rear seat in these cars come equipped with only a two-point or lap seat belt, similar to the ones provided in aircraft seats.
Last month, the ministry said it will make it mandatory for carmakers to provide a minimum of six airbags in motor vehicles that can carry up to 8 passengers for enhanced safety of occupants from October this year.
As many as 1.5 lakh people die every year in 5 lakh road accidents in the country and need of the hour is to create mass awareness for road safety measures by information dissemination, Gadkari said on Thursday.
According to him, a system is being proposed for star rating of vehicles based on the standards and protocol to improve safety.
