Mumbai: Compulsory seat belts for all from Nov 1, violators to be fined Rs 1,000; citizens call move unjust

Mumbaikars, wear a seat belt while driving a car, or be prepared to pay Rs 1,000 as fine from November 1. The Mumbai Traffic Police Department on Friday announced that drivers as well as passengers must wear a seat belt, or pay the penalty. The traffic cops have given the motorists a 15-day period to get seat belts fixed for all seats. Citizens, however, called the move unwarranted, especially within the city limits. Currently, the fine for not wearing a seat belt is Rs 200. The traffic police's move comes after its failure to enforce mandatory helmets for pillion riders.

The notification issued by the traffic police 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 passengers not wearing seat belts shall be punishable."

"Accordingly, to install seat belt facilities in motor vehicles which do not have seat belt facilities for all commuters, the period is being given till November 1. Therefore, all motor vehicle drivers and all commuters in vehicles, whoever travels on the roads of Mumbai city, are hereby informed that, it will be mandatory for drivers and all passengers to wear seatbelts while travelling from November 1. Otherwise, action will be taken under section 194(B)(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019," the order added.

From November 1, the driver along with all passengers in the car have to wear seatbelts. File pic

Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Rajvardhan said, "The rule applies to each and every vehicle running in the vicinity of Mumbai. The vehicles which don't have belts for all seats should get it fixed in the next 15 days. The violators will be fined as per the law."

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Citizens react

Mumbaikars, however, were unhappy with the move. Niyamat Shaikh, a Byculla resident, said, "This kind of fine is injustice to passengers. We can understand if a driver is fined for not wearing a seatbelt, but making it mandatory for all passengers is unfair. We can have this compulsion on highways or freeways, but it will be troublesome for passengers as well as cops if implemented on every road."

Sion resident Sneha Yadav said, "Making seatbelts compulsory for the driver and the passenger on the front seat is okay, but making it a must for even those in the rear is not going to help. Except at night, you can't even speed on any road. So, I believe leniency should be shown to the people sitting at the back."

"How are cops going to issue challan to passengers who are not wearing belts? Are they going to stop each vehicle, if yes, then it will be a chaotic situation. Also, what about the person sitting in the middle of the rear seat? Traffic cops should come out with detailed advisory regarding that. Just saying that there is a law and they are just implementing it won't do," said Mukesh Gupta from Navghar.

Vishal Rambhia, a resident of Mulund, said, "The initiative is good as far as safety is concerned, but it should be followed on highways, not on city roads. Also, the implementation will lead to chaos on the roads as well."

Kavita Bhalerao, a motorist from Dadar, said, "I welcome this decision as seatbelts are absolutely necessary. I recently bought a car which has six airbags, but if we do not wear the seatbelts, then airbags will not be enough to save us in case of a mishap."

Helmet for all move

Earlier in June, traffic cops had announced that they will start penalising bikers and pillion riders found without a helmet. However, the move lost traction soon after then police commissioner Sanjay Pandey retired. When asked about this, Joint CP (Traffic) Rajvardhan told mid-day, "We had shown leniency during monsoon. But it will gather momentum again."