India plans to mandate rear seat belt alarms in cars – South Asia Time

India plans to mandate rear seat belt alarms in cars

 September 7, 2022  

NEW DELHI —  India is planning to make it mandatory for car makers to install an alarm system for rear seat belts to enforce their use, in an effort to reduce road accident fatalities, the transport minister said late on Tuesday.

The move comes after Cyrus Mistry, the former chairman of Indian conglomerate Tata Sons (TATAS.UL), died in a car crash on Sunday. He was sitting in the rear seat and did not have his seat belt on, local media reported citing police officials.

In India, one person dies every four minutes in road accidents, the World Bank said last year.

While it is already mandatory for all occupants in a car in India, the world’s fourth-biggest auto market, to wear a seat belt failing which they can be fined, passengers at the back seldom do and enforcement is also lax. ( Agencies)