Rear seat passengers not wearing seatbelt? Pay Rs. 1,000 FINE!

Indians and seatbelts are not very friendly with each other. Over the years, numerous campaigns from the authorities and special drives to nab the people not using the seatbelts in the front seats of the cars, the situation has become a little better. However, there are still many who sit on the front seats of the cars and prefer not to wear the seatbelt. Well, the police officers will now not only check the front passengers for the seatbelts and the rear passengers will have to be in the belt while on the move.

The Chandigarh Traffic Police has now announced that it will target the car occupants for not wearing a seatbelt in the rear seats too. The fine for not wearing the belt is Rs 1,000. It should be noted that the Motor Vehicle Act, which was recently amended and enforced already has a provision to book the occupants for not wearing the seatbelts in the rear seats of the car. However, most of the times, the cops let go and overlook the rear occupants of the vehicle. The lax from the cops will soon be changed in the Chandigarh Union Territory.

Under the new MV Act, the fine for not wearing a seatbelt in the car is Rs 1,000 and it will be applicable to the rear seat passengers too. It should be noted that it is illegal to sell a vehicle in India without seatbelts and all the cars offer the same number of seatbelts as the seating capacity of the vehicle. Due to the non-enforcement of the rule, there are many motorists who are not aware of the rule. However, the Shashank Anand, SSP (Traffic), Chandigarh Police, said to the Tribune India that the importance of the wearing seatbelts will be taught to the people through various campaigns. Only after that, the rule will be enforced in the UT.

Seatbelts are important

Many believe that wearing seatbelts inside the city limits is useless as the vehicle moves slowly. Well, any crash that happens above the speed of 30 km/h can be extremely dangerous. Even under that speed, the occupant can get injured because when a vehicle suddenly comes to stop, the body without a seatbelt will keep on moving forward and can hit the dashboard and other parts of the vehicle.

Wearing the seatbelt in the rear is even more important. During high-speed crashes, the rear occupants without a seatbelt can hit the passengers in front at a great momentum and this can cause serious injuries. In many cases, the rear seat passengers without a seatbelt have hit the front windshield, which has caused injuries and even disabilities. Imaging hitting another person at a speed of 50 km/h. This is why the seatbelts are important for every occupant in the car. The children should be put in a child seat.