Cyrus Mistry death: Govt announces new seatbelt rules

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced new rules to ensure safety of the passengers sitting in the back seat.

Citing business tycoon Cyrus Mistry's fatal accident, the minister said the government has decided to make it mandatory for passengers sitting in rear seat to wear seatbelt as well.

He added that the government will issue a notification in three days specifying the penalty for not wearing a seatbelt in the rear.

There is already a penalty of Rs 1000 if passengers in the back are not wearing the contraception but the compliance and enforcement is negligible.

Gadkari also said that his ministry is also in talks with car manufacturers to introduce seatbelt beep system for the rear seats

Earlier, Gadkari had also slammed car manufacturers for limiting airbags to only 4 in India, while having 6 airbags in the exported vehicles

According to the data released by highway police, over 59,000 people have died and about 80,000 severly injured in road accidents in Maharashtra in less than 5 years.

Former Tata boss Cyrus Mistry died in a car accident on Sunday and according to reports, he was not wearing a seat belt.