Vehicle safety is becoming a bigger priority for average Indian car buyers today and thanks to the government of our nation manufacturers are being pushed to offer safer vehicles in the country. In a recent attempt to further enhance the safety of vehicles on Indian roads the Union Roads & Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari during a press conference on ‘Automobile Safety Ecosystem in India’ announced that the government will be making it mandatory for automakers to provide three-point seat belts for all front-facing passengers in a car.

During the press conference, the Union Roads & Transport Minister said, “I have signed a file yesterday to make it mandatory for automakers to provide three-point seat belts for all the front facing passengers in a car,” He further stated that currently, automobiles in the nation are equipped with three-point seat belts in the front two and rear two seats, while the centre or middle rear seat in these cars come equipped with only a two-point or lap seat belt, like an aeroplane which is not very safe in times of mishaps on roads.

According to media reports, the notification for this announcement will be made by the government to the auto manufacturers in a months period and following which a request for suggestions and comments will also be made. An official from the government stated, “The intention of the government is to improve the overall safety ratings of passenger cars manufactured in India. The ministry found that barring a few models, no vehicle has three-point seat belts for the passenger seated in the rear middle in India.”

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Additionally, it was also announced in the press meet that the government is aiming to have an independent agency (Bharat NCAP) to give out ratings to automobiles in the country based on their safety features. It is believed that by creating this independent national agency, buyers will be able to make a more conscious choice based on the safety rating. The government is also currently working on features like electronic stability control, advanced emergency braking system, lane departure warning system and it is assumed that the manufacturers will be asked to include these features in their vehicles as standard or at least as an option.

The Union Minister then divulged that as many as 1.5 lakh people die every year in 5 lakh road accidents in the country and the need of the hour is to create mass awareness for road safety measures by information dissemination. He further stated that usually, high-end vehicles have a lot of the aforementioned safety features as standard, therefore there’s no reason why at least some of these features shouldn’t be standard in every single car sold in the country.

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The post 3-point seat belts for rear middle passengers soon, says Gadkari first appeared on Cartoq.