[TusharK]

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has issued a draft notification that mandates all cars manufactured from April 1, 2025, to have a ‘rear seat belt alarm’.



The ministry had issued a draft notification regarding the same earlier. The government had mandated 3-point rear seat belts, a rear seat belt alarm and 6 airbags, following the death of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry. However, the notification lapsed after the proposal for the mandatory fitment of 6 airbags could not go through.

According to a government official, the latest notification is only for the rear seat belt alarm and there is no other new provision.

Rear-seat passengers are required to wear seat belts by law. Failing to do so can attract a fine of Rs 1,000 under the Motor Vehicle Act.

Source: ET Auto

Link to Team-BHP news

[GTO]

. That is just fantastic news. I am amazed at the general ignorance of the importance of rear seatbelts, and frequently see even highly-educated really smart people without their belt on the rear seat. Shockingly, Cyrus Mistry (God bless his soul) as the bossman of Tata hadn't buckled up in his fatal accident, despite leading a group that is at the forefront of automotive safety.

The rear seatbelt saved me from a serious injury 2 years ago.

Just hope every OEM implements this better than Marutis...which keep beeping seatbelt warnings even if there is no one on the backseat ! That has got to be the useability failure of the decade.

[ashis89]

So Maruti knew or made it happen finally.

But I hope the government notification makes it clear that a weight sensor should also be present for each of the rear seats. Without them, this law is counter-productive.

Today all the new Marutis on the road that I see (including mine) have all the seat belts fastened even if the seat is empty. That's because Maruti was smart enough to add reminders for rear seats but cheap enough not to provide weight sensors to detect rear passengers. As a result, the reminder keeps chiming if each of the rear belts are not fastened even without passenger. Now everytime a passenger gets into the rear seat, they unfasten the belt, sit down, fasten the belt, reach destination, unfasten belt, get out and fasten it back. Now who has all that patience to go through the rigour each time. They will simply end up sitting on the fastened seat belt and defeating the purpose of this law!

[saisree]

Great news!! This post (Accidents in India | Pics & Videos)from the Accidents thread is the latest one, where the rear passengers are hurt for not buckling up.

This is a very important notification and would like to see that it gets through from the draft and is implemented in a very intrusive manner.

I would go to the lengths of calculating the amount of seat belt that's pulled and buckled up to gauge whether the passenger is really buckled up or just sitting on top of it to stop the alarm.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just hope every OEM implements this better than Marutis...which keep beeping seatbelt warnings even if there is no one on the backseat ! That has got to be the useability failure of the decade.

It’s not just Maruti — even the Astor (since mid-2023) and Punch.ev beep unconditionally at the start of the trip. Just last week I saw a parked Comet that had its rear belts fastened.

The problem is with the Euro NCAP seatbelt reminder standard suppliers develop for, which doesn’t require but also doesn’t prohibit cars without occupant detection to beep at the start of a journey.


Less annoying systems like the Hycross, Verna etc. also don’t have occupant detection. Only the lamp in the instrument cluster/dash lights up at the start of the journey, the beeps start only if the belt changed from fastened to unfastened.

Unfortunately — at least in the Hycross — the buckle sensors are very sensitive, so if you accidentally try to use the wrong buckle first and insert the tongue even partially, then it starts beeping and you’ll have to fasten the belt for the empty seat next to you (or, speaking from experience, the other occupants get very mad).

Already most cars on the market have silently been updated with rear seatbelt reminders. All Marutis, Toyotas, Hyundais, MGs, Renaults, VWs and Skodas now have them, and Tata has them on everything except for the ICE Punch, Altroz and Tiago/Tigor EVs. Stellantis has committed to fitting them to all Citroëns by July, and the Compass got them in January. Mahindra and Honda remain.

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by ashis89

As a result, the reminder keeps chiming if each of the rear belts are not fastened even without passenger. Now everytime a passenger gets into the rear seat, they unfasten the belt, sit down, fasten the belt, reach destination, unfasten belt, get out and fasten it back. Now who has all that patience to go through the rigour each time. They will simply end up sitting on the fastened seat belt and defeating the purpose of this law!

Exactly! I've been facing this nonsense in my 2023 Baleno. While getting it home for the first time, I nearly thought the reminder chime was due to an electrical issue as nobody was sitting at the back (I had disengaged the rear seat belts, just thought it looked weird while fastened without anyone sitting on the seat!)

This cost saving defeats the whole purpose of having an alert in the first place, people happily sit ON the seat belts, just like many people engage the front seat belt from behind the seat etc

[sagarpadaki]

With split and folding rear seats, it is difficult and more expensive to install weight sensors on the rear seats since the wiring and the sensors can get damaged during folding and unfolding, loading of objects in the rear etc. This is why manufacturers are tending towards the cheaper approach for seatbelt reminders. It should be easy to implement on rear captain seats though.

[supermax]

Originally Posted by GTO

. That is just fantastic news. I am amazed at the general ignorance of the importance of rear seatbelts,

Just hope every OEM implements this better than Marutis...which keep beeping seatbelt warnings even if there is no one on the backseat ! That has got to be the useability failure of the decade.

I just hope more is done to spread the awareness. Newspaper ad campaigns, hoardings, TV ads to drive home the point. Just making it mandatory to have an annoying beeping is more likely to send people looking for defeat-devices on amazon or alibaba (buy defeat devices in bulk so the entire mohalla can be spared of the annoying beeping!).
Taxi/uber operators already clip off seatbelts, or clip them on and put them under the seat cover, and this too will get around the new regulations. Unless we spread the word and ensure that people don't accept being passengers in cars with disabled belts, this won't really get much traction. Mistry's death was indeed both eye-opening and shocking, but it shows just how wide-spread the problem is.

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Today all the new Marutis on the road that I see (including mine) have all the seat belts fastened even if the seat is empty.

Not just Maruti, but Toyota (err Maruti) Hyryder also has the same. It reminds me of a funny incident that happened when we took delivery of our Hyryder in June 2023. The SA told me that the beeps are normal and it will continue to beep for a couple of minutes every time you start the car. My gripe was that the MID always had the seatbelt warning light on. During the 1000 km inspection, I complained about the same to the driver who came to pickup the car. He just plugged in all the seat belts and solved the normal issue.

[BoneCollector]

I feel that a 3 point ELR seatbelt for rear middle occupant is more important than the alarms. Lap belts are nothing but a hazard.

Many manufacturers have started offering 3 point ELR seatbelt for all occupants but there are few existing models that miss out on these. Maruti launched Grand Vitara and Fronx with it, and then also added it to Baleno. What can't they do the same for atleast Ertiga if not all the hatchbacks?

[Gotcha]

Even the proposed rear seatbelt reminder rules in USA don't require weight sensors:

"NHTSA's proposal would require visual warnings on vehicle startup to last at least 60 seconds to notify the driver of the status of the rear seat belts, and an audio-visual warning lasting at least 30 seconds if a rear seat belt is unbuckled while the vehicle is in operation."

https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...em-2023-08-21/

Most Indian cars manufactured 2023 onwards already have rear seatbelt sensors. Maruti and few others erratically went overboard with the reminders. Only a firmware update of the BCM (body control module) is required to enable reminders to function the right way.

[RunGaDa]

Here’s my experience with back seat passenger not wearing seat belt. This was actually my car and I had three people from my neighborhood going for an event. My car does not have rear middle passenger seat belt. I was traveling at 45kmph and all 4 seats had seat belt fastened except the middle passenger. At one intersection the light was green and all of a sudden an auto rickshaw in front decides to slow down and turn. This was at the end of the chowk and it made me hit the brakes suddenly. The middle passenger leapt from the seat and was almost going to hit the dashboard. If the one left rear guy had not caught him he would be definitely heading for the front glass.

It underscored the importance of wearing seat belts and the rear passengers thanked me after the incident because I had strictly told them to wear seat belt.

I am happy with govt. rule but how much enforcement will be there?
There will be 99% non compliance and only when the traffic police wanted to complete their monthly or quarterly quota they will stop cars and fine them.
Otherwise unless people take it seriously no one can bring this change.

[fhdowntheline]

People will simply fasten the seatbelts and then sit on them to avoid the chiming. I have noticed people doing this in Pune in the front seat as well. These measures are of no use unless there is a national Safety consciousness that is developed. Something on the lines of "making way for ambulance".

[sjain2054]

India needs this.

People in India wear helmets or seatbelts not because it saves their lives but because they do not want to get fined.

I do not know what the British did to us for 300 years but the outcome of 300 years of slavery and 75 years of terrible education system is a whole country full of "educated" idiots of the highest order.

An uncle, who lives in my building, fell off his scooter and cracked his skull. He had the helmet on his elbow. He stayed in the hospital for 6 months. He recovered.

Recently, I saw him on his scooter again. He was not wearing his helmet on the head. It was on his elbow - again. I asked him in a very concerned tone, "Uncle, why are you not wearing your helmet." He replied, "Why? You saw the traffic police or what?"

I am beginning to think that his elbow is definitely worth more than his head.

[GeeTee TSI]

Needs a generational shift in thinking, make the learner wear it even if sitting in the back waiting for his turn behind the wheel.
The rule aids in this journey but does not create the habit. Buckling up should be muscle memory like slamming the door shut