[sarathlal]

In a welcome move, Kerala State Road Safety Commissioner has made wearing seat belts mandatory for all passenger car occupants.
This includes those occupying the front seat and those in the front-facing rear seats in passenger cars plying in the State.

Earlier in 2007, the state has mandated the seat belts for front seat occupants. Related thread here

The directive is reported to have been issued as per the provision of sub-rule (3) of Rule 138 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
This would attract a fine of Rs.100 for first offense and up to Rs.300 for second and subsequent offense.
Those violating the rule will also be booked under Section 184 of the MV Act for dangerous driving.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle6084170.ece

[saket77]

Good. If people do not realize it, enforce it. Don't know when it will be compulsory in Ranchi. People look at me like an alien.

[svsantosh]

Truly a Gods own country (now..!!) ++

God bless the law makers and their attitude. Wish they are all around the country...

[rajeev k]

Good move. Perhaps, this came in the wake of Sri Gopinath Munde's sad demise as probably, a seat belt would have saved him.
Kudos to Shri Rishi Raj Singh, the Kerala Road safety Commissioner.

[NPV]

Good move, keeping safety in mind. Kudos to Kerala for showing the right way forward, other states should learn from them.
Here in Bangalore, the seat belt checks are common in some places where you can almost always find cops looking for violators but I still don't believe that the drivers here learn their lesson (if they are caught and fined) and obviously don't understand it's importance
On the other side you have the good drivers always wearing the belts so thank god for that! Now, I hope we'll have more drivers using seat belts and also ensure that the other passengers use them too.

[swiftnfurious]

Welcome move. My own brother denies to wear a seat belt when he sits in the navigator seat; now he doesn't have a choice. I really hope Rishiraj Singh gets a transfer to the neighbouring states too and make more people to comply with such rules. Or atleast this incident inspires other states to allow / instruct transport commissioners to take up similar solid stand and enforce such rules across.

[troika]

Lets hope other states follow suit. And most importantly the cops need to be more diligent in enforcing this.

[bigben]

Yeah 3 cheers for the Kerala Government. Wish the other states would do the same. Since most cars do not have air bags and ABS, I seat belts should be made mandatory.

[S_U_N]

Wow! Good move.

Our 1996 Zen which is under restoration does not even had rear seat belt provision.
I am trying hard to find pictures of Zen with rear seat belts.
Any pointers will help.

[wilful]

This is certainly a welcome move. I have a tiny doubt (do forgive me if it is just a bit ))- aren't there some cars with only 2 belts in the rear bench? Does it mean only 2 passengers at the back then for those?

[one-77]

Originally Posted by wilful

This is certainly a welcome move. I have a tiny doubt (do forgive me if it is just a bit ))- aren't there some cars with only 2 belts in the rear bench? Does it mean only 2 passengers at the back then for those?

I think at least in all cars made during the last decade, each front-facing passenger seat in every car has its own seat-belt. But if the read-middle seat has a lap-belt alone, it is not very effective and can also sometimes be dangerous - causing lap belt injuries (which may of course be less serious than injuries from getting thrown on to the windscreen).

Kerala has also greatly improved the tests for drivers license from June 1.

They should also make helmets mandatory for pillion riders on two-wheelers who are statistically at greater risk of injury in accidents.

[tsk1979]

What about Muvs with side facing seats. what will those do?

[zenren]

Looks like a lot of cars in Kerala would need to pierce a hole in the rear seat covers since most of the seat covers don't have the opening for seat belt buckle.

AFAIK, this rule is only applicable in vehicles where there is provision for the same. So cars sold before 2002 might not have rear seat belts and hence it would not be required to wear the same while travelling in the same.

Originally Posted by wilful

aren't there some cars with only 2 belts in the rear bench? Does it mean only 2 passengers at the back then for those?

Yes, the cars like 800 came with just 2 seat belts in the rear and no lap belt in the middle. The rule mandates seat belts for all front facing seats. So if there is provision for only 4 seat belts, then it is sold as a 4 seater. So we are technically overloading the car when 5 people travel in it.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by sarathlal

In a welcome move, Kerala State Road Safety Commissioner has made wearing seat belts mandatory for all passenger car occupants.

Excellent stuff. My dad was telling me the same thing yesterday. Enforcement is already on as well.

What happens to the overloaded cars where there are more people than belts? What about cars with no belts? I think they would probably not renew registrations for those cars the next time and would (and should) be declared unfit.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Welcome move. My own brother denies to wear a seat belt when he sits in the navigator seat; now he doesn't have a choice. I really hope Rishiraj Singh gets a transfer to the neighbouring states too and make more people to comply with such rules. Or atleast this incident inspires other states to allow / instruct transport commissioners to take up similar solid stand and enforce such rules across.

I have family who behaves the same way. By the way, I would rather have him stay and enforce all this for a few years so that the whole thing is permanently imbibed in everyone's head. If he goes in a year or two, all the good things that he initiated would be forgotten and ignored and things will go back the the good old apathetic mode.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

What happens to the overloaded cars where there are more people than belts? What about cars with no belts? I think they would probably not renew registrations for those cars the next time and would (and should) be declared unfit.

Overloaded cars are by definition violating the law already. So seat belt compliance is just a secondary offense for those.

In case of pre-2002 cars without the provision for the belts, they would be exempt for now but their numbers as a fraction of the total vehicle population would come down to a very small figure and eventually 99% of them would get phased out with the remaining ones enjoying their time at the garages of collectors and enthusiasts. Even for the driver seatbelt rule, pre-1994 cars are exempt but the number of such specimens still running on the road are very minimal.