Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Death in taxi accidents and lack of seat belts in the back seat

A large number of deaths on road accidents every year have been a characteristic feature of India. We need to find the political will to enforce stringent laws. A fraction of these deaths are due to passengers in the back-seat not wearing seat belts even when they travel on the high way. Every major city has a high speed road going to the airport and tens of thousands of taxis ply on these roads every day in every metro. A majority of these taxis seem to have seat belts buried under the seats and inaccessible to the passengers. Many taxi operators do not consider them necessary. Most taxi drivers say they cannot help you in digging out seat belt. 
Information on deaths related to back seat passengers not wearing seat belts is widely available, for instance in the following news items:     
A simple action can quickly reduce the number of road deaths due to this cause. We need to enact a law that provides for taking a taxi off the road immediately, if it does not have readily accessible seat belts in the back seats. Innocent lives, including that of women and children, do not have to be lost because operators of a lucrative business deny them the protection they need.

I request readers to visit
and sign my petition in this regard.

2 comments:

Srinivasan Ramani said...

Please visit the Bangalore Mirror Bureau (Jun 15, 2015) news item by Prakruti PK.
The link to the Bangalore Mirror Bureau news item

Among other things it says
" ... if only both passengers - like their cab driver who survived the impact of the 120 kmph crash - had worn their seatbelts too, perhaps 27-year-old Jagarthi Haresh Sadhwani would have been alive".

Srinivasan Ramani said...

Hema Malini was hurt recently in an accident that involved a Mercedes Benz. We don't know if it was a rented vehicle or a privately owned vehicle. The investigating officer has told the Indian Express quoting the driver that “The MP’s car was definitely speeding and she did not have a seat belt on". - See more at:
she did not have a seat belt on, the driver told us