It has come to light that Maharashtra politician Gopinath Munde was not wearing his seat belt in the rear seat on the day he died after another car rammed into the side of his official car. The neglected safety accessory could have saved his life by reducing the severity of his injuries. Seat belts may not offer the greater protection that side and front airbags do in most modern cars, but such accessories are made available only at a considerably higher cost by automobile manufacturers.
Seat belts restrain passengers from colliding with the windscreen or the seat in front and also help minimise whiplash in the event of a collision. They are a very basic safety feature that all passengers in cars must start using consciously in Indian traffic conditions. It is an undeniable truth that too many Indian drivers travel at so many confrontations per minute rather than kilometres per hour. The death toll on our roads is phenomenally high compared to the number of vehicles.
Munde’s death must serve to encourage Indians to wear seat belts in cars and helmets while riding two-wheelers. Making use of these safety accessories compulsory and enforcement of the rules by overworked traffic police will not serve the purpose as much as willing use. As the Indian experience shows, it is by strict preliminary enforcement that awareness is spread. It would also help if the law required all car manufacturers to sell only vehicles fitted with airbags.
