Mumbai: Wearing Rear Seat Belts To Be Mandatory From TODAY Onwards

• Occupants sitting in a car’s rear seat have to mandatorily buckle up.
• Mumbai police will be having a 10-day awareness campaign on the same.
• From November 11 onwards, cops will start issuing fines to offenders.
• Vehicles without seat belts need to have them installed ASAP!

Mumbai: From November 1, 2022, wearing rear seat belts in your car will be mandatory, announced the city’s traffic police department. Offenders will be splashed with a fine of Rs 1,000 from November 11 onwards along with a warning. 

To spread awareness among people, the Mumbai police will be initiating a 10-day awareness campaign and inform the public about the new rule. Post this, from November 11, violators will be fined if they are found not wearing a seat belt while occupying a car’s rear seat.  Also, cars that don’t have rear seat belts need to have them installed as soon as possible. 

Most cars in India have three-point seatbelts for the occupants of the rear outboard seats, while the middle passenger gets a lap belt. Yes, there are a handful of cars that come with a much safer three-point seatbelt for the middle rear seat occupant as well. The government has plans to standardise three-point seatbelt and warnings for all three rear seat passengers. 

It’s not just Mumbai that has implemented this rule, as even Delhi and Karnataka have already put this rule into effect and we expect other States to follow suit as well.  

Honda City Hybrid with three-point seatbelts for all three rear occupants.

All of this comes in the wake of Cyrus Mistry’s accident. The former CEO of Tata Group passed away in a high-speed crash, despite him travelling in a well-built luxury car without wearing his seatbelts. This clearly shows that however good and solid a car is, the seatbelt still plays an important role when it comes to occupant safety, especially with keeping a person firmly in place in the event of a crash. 

We at ZigWheels suggest all road users to abide by this latest rule and make motoring a more safer and enjoyable experience.