Mumbai Police puts mandatory rear seat belt rule on hold for now

Commuters in Mumbai today may heave a sigh of relief, though it will not last too long. Mumbai Police has postponed its drive against those not wearing seat belts inside cars for now. The city's police was supposed to start the crackdown from today. However, it has now been delayed. In an earlier notice, Mumbai Police had said it will implement seat belt rule with strictness. The rule will apply to all occupants inside a car, including those sitting in the rear seats.

Raj Tilak Roushan, Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Police (Traffic), said the drive against those violating the seat belt rule has been postponed till November 10. He said the next 10 days will be first used to raise awareness among commuters regarding the road safety aspect as well as the neecessity to instal seatbelts for all seats. "This is a decision by our seniors. These ten days, the drivers will be warned and we will use our Twitter handle and radio to spread awareness about the rule. "We were getting several queries regarding the drive as not all commuters were aware of the notification issued by us 15 days ago," said Roushan.

The notice issued by Mumbai Police earlier read, "As per the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, under section 194(B)(1) Whoever drives a motor vehicle without wearing a safety belt or carries passenger not wearing seat belts shall be punishable. All motor vehicle drivers and all commuters in vehicle, whoever travels on the roads of Mumbai City are hereby informed that, it will be mandatory for drivers and all passengers to wear seat belts while travelling from 01/11/2002. Otherwise, action will be taken under section 194(B)(1) of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019."

The rear seat belt rule was earlier supposed to be implemented in Mumbai from Tuesday."The fine which was going to be slapped on the owner of the vehicle through e-challan was ₹200 for getting caught not wearing a seatbelt," said Roushan.

Mumbai Police will launch a similar drive against two-wheeler riders without helmets. “All the police and traffic officials too have been instructed to ensure that they are wearing seatbelts and helmets have been made compulsory for all pillion riders as per the Motor Vehicles Act," said Roushan.

The seat belt rule, especially for passengers sitting in the rear seats, has always been part of traffic rule. It is also mentioned in the Motor Vehicles Act that violation of the traffic rule is also punishable with fines. However, the rear seat belt rule was never implemented as strictly as it should have been. It took the death of Cyrus Mistry, who was killed in a car crash near Palghar in Maharashtra to bring focus back on the rule. Data on accident deaths shared by the Centre revealed how seat belts could have saved more lives.