Govt to make three-point seatbelt mandatory for rear-middle car seat: Report

Volvo introduced their three-point seatbelt in August 1959, but left the patent open for public safety reasons.

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Three-point seatbelts will soon become mandatory for all passengers in cars, including the third in the middle, according to government officials from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). In cars, only the front and rear window seats have three-point seat belts, and the middle rear seats are fitted with a belt like those on airplanes.

Following the recent proposal to require six air bags in all passenger vehicles, this will be the second attempt to make cars safer. A draft notification was released by the transport ministry on January 14 asking the public for comments on making six air bags mandatory starting October 1st.

The ministry plans to issue a notification in about a month, which will be followed by a request for suggestions and comments, according to a report by Hindustan Times. The report quoted a ministry official as saying, “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.” 

In August 1959, Volvo became the first car manufacturer who introduced its then-patented three-point seatbelt in their cars. Due to public safety concerns, however, the company left the patent open. 

Despite this, experts point out that a lot of the problem can also be explained by passenger behaviour. This is because almost a third of Indians fail to use their rear seatbelts at all.