Nine Out of 10 Indians Do Not Use Rear Seat-Belts, Says Study

The government may make seat-belt warning devices mandatory for all seats in passenger cars soon.

Only 7 percent of passengers wear rear seat-belts regularly says a Nissan and SaveLife Foundation survey.

(Photo: iStockphoto)

Seat-belt use is dismal in India, period. Year after year studies come out with similar poor statistics about seat-belt use in the country. This year a Nissan and SaveLife Foundation study has found that 90 percent of Indians do not use rear seat-belts. This ties in with a Kantar Group - Maruti Suzuki study last year that said only 4 percent use rear seat-belts.

Whichever the study, the stats are simply shocking and part of the reason why India has the highest number of road accident deaths in the world at 1.41 lakh people killed last year.

The Nissan-SaveLife Foundation study uses a larger sample size of 6,306 respondents across 11 cities, while the Maruti - Kantar study covered 2,505 respondents in 17 cities. However, the stats are very similar – seat-belt use is pathetic.

However, legislation and better law enforcement may improve the figures.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari who was at the presentation of the study said the government plans to make it mandatory for car makers to fit seat-belt warning beeping devices on all seats in a car, ensuring that not just drivers, but all occupants of the car wear their belts. He says this may be implemented as soon as July 2019.

Here are a few more stats from the report.

Use of Rear Seat-Belts in India

• About 70.5 percent of respondents acknowledged the presence of rear seat-belts in their cars
• Only 7 percent said they use rear seat-belts regularly
• Only 27.7 percent of respondents were aware that the law mandates use of rear seat-belts
• Over 91 percent of people surveyed said they had never been stopped for not using rear seat-belts
• Only 11.2 percent of school buses and vans have provision of seat belts for passengers
• Over 75.7 percent of parents surveyed had no clue about child restraint systems (ISOFIX points and child seats)
• Only 3.5 percent of parents have used child restraint systems or booster seats in cars
• Only 20.1 percent of parents with two-wheelers owned helmets for children