Industrialist Cyrus Mistry’s death in a car accident has brought road safety under the glare of the national spotlight. The former Tata Sons chairman was reportedly sitting on the rear seat of the Mercedes Benz he was travelling in with his co passengers on Sunday when he met with the fateful accident. He was not wearing a seat belt.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari stated that seatbelts will be mandatory for all passengers sitting in a vehicle. ‘It will now be mandatory for all the people sitting in the car to wear a seat belt, the Union Minister said. After the death of Cyrus Mistry, the government has taken a big decision for the safety of the backseat passengers. A seat belt is required for the back seat, Nitin Gadkari said. He underlined that defaulters and violators of this rule would be punished with a fine.
Over 1.55 lakh lives were lost in road crashes across in 2021 – an average of 426 daily or 18 every single hour – which is the highest death figures recorded in any calendar year so far, according to official data.