M A I N   N E W S

Centre mulls making rear seat belts a must
Wearing a seat belt could have saved Munde’s life, says Health Minister
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Now, RSS chief’s car hit RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat escaped unhurt after a Tata Sumo rammed into his escort vehicle, which in turn hit Bhagwat’s car while he was on his way to the Delhi Airport around 12.05 pm on Wednesday. The driver, Sohanlal, is a resident of Pinjore, Haryana. He was arrested and later released on bail.

New Delhi, June 4
The death of Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde today triggered a debate on the urgency of seat belt driving with the Health Ministry proposing a law to punish those who don’t fasten up when in moving vehicles.

“Wearing a seat belt could have saved my friend Gopinath Munde’s life. Most people think backseat belts serve only a decorative purpose whereas wearing them is as necessary as wearing front seat belts. These can save lives during impacts,” said Health Minister Harsh Vardhan before leaving for Beed to attend Munde’s funeral.

Vardhan called for a new law to punish non-seat belt and helmet driving and hinted at adoption of coercive measures on women who are often reluctant to wear seat belts. He voiced other more stringent plans for road safety.

“I will work with petroleum dealers to utilise pumps as points of interface with car and bike users. Perhaps a system could be developed under which petrol and diesel sales can be denied to those who don’t use seat belts and helmets. A new law is necessary along the lines of European Union countries to make non-seat belt and helmet use punishable,” the Health Minister said.

Munde’s medical reports confirm that a seat belt could have saved him. He died within seconds of his car being hit from the side by a motorist. The damage to the minister’s car wasn’t great but the force with which he was thrown forward within the confined space damaged Munde’s atlanto-axial joint in his neck and injured his spinal cord. Blood vessels carrying blood supply to the brain stem (seat of respiratory and cardiac centre) were disrupted leading to cardiac and respiratory arrest. The liver was ruptured causing profuse blood loss.

Firm to make Munde’s death a “turning point in India’s road safety practices”, the government will soon launch a multimedia campaign to expose people to safety protocols. Vardhan said the focus would be on child victims of accidents.

“Direct child victims of accidents represent a greater tragedy. The WHO recommends that children over 10 years should wear a seat belt and younger ones should be in a child restraint. UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has shown that car manufacturer Volvo’s patented three-point belt design have saved one million lives worldwide,” Vardhan said.

Further research has revealed that wearing seat belts reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 % and moderate-to-critical injury by 50%.