Is there any law requirements for "Seat Belt" in car?

Dear Friends,

Is there any law requirement for "Seat Belt" in a car? Please let me know.

Regards

Dear SSM,

It is made mandatory while driving the fast-moving vehicle to safeguard the life of the user. Please check Seat Belt, in which the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

I am reproducing the same for those who are unable to open the page.

The Seatbelt has proven to be by far the most important safety device in cars as it dramatically increases the chances of survival of the occupants in the event of an accident. It has been estimated that seatbelts reduce the risk of death for a front seat car occupant by about 50%. How does the seatbelt work?

Seatbelt's Principle of Working: When a car is speeding along at 50 Km per hour it has a tendency ('Inertia') to keep moving at the same speed and in the same direction unless some force acts on it. The car accelerates its occupants to its own speed so that they seem to be moving as a single unit. The inertia of the occupants is, however, independent of the inertia of the car. If the car were to crash into a tree, the force of the tree would bring the car to an abrupt halt. The speed of the occupants, however, would remain the same because of their independent inertia and they would bang into the steering wheel, the dashboard, or the windshield. The force exerted by the steering wheel or the windshield would then bring the occupants to a stop but may in the process cause injury to vulnerable body parts such as the head and the face. The seatbelt's job is to spread this stopping force across sturdier parts of the body over a longer period of time to minimize damage.

A typical seatbelt consists of a Lap Belt, which rests over the pelvis, and a Shoulder Belt, which extends across the chest. The two belt sections are tightly secured to the frame of the car to hold passengers in their seats. When the belt is worn correctly, it will apply most of the stopping force to the rib cage and the pelvis, which are relatively sturdy parts of the body. Since the belts extend across a wide section of the body, the force isn't concentrated in a small area, so it can't do as much damage. Additionally, the seatbelt webbing is made of a material having some flexibility so that it stretches a little bit, thereby making the stop less abrupt. The softening of the crash by the collapsing of the crumple zones of the car also has the desired effect only when the occupant remains secured to the seat by the seatbelt.

Load Limiters: In severe crashes, when a car collides with an obstacle at extremely high speed, a seatbelt can inflict serious damage. As a passenger's inertial speed increases, it takes a greater force to bring the passenger to a stop. In other words, the faster you're going on impact, the harder the seatbelt will push on you. Some seatbelt systems use load limiters to minimize belt-inflicted injury. The basic idea of a load limiter is to release a little more excess belt webbing when a great deal of force is applied to the belt.

Law on Use of Seatbelt: As per the provisions of sub-rule (3) of Rule 138 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 'in a motor vehicle, in which seat-belts have been provided under sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (1A) of rule 125 or rule 125A, as the case may be, it shall be ensured that the driver, and the person seated in the front seat or the persons occupying front facing rear seats, as the case may be, wear the seat belts while the vehicle is in motion.

Rule 125 (1) requires the manufacturer of every motor vehicle other than motorcycles and three-wheelers of engine capacity not exceeding 500 cc shall equip every such vehicle with a seat belt for the driver and for the person occupying the front seat.

Rule 125 (1A) requires the manufacturer of every motor vehicle that is used for the carriage of passengers and their luggage and comprising no more than 8 seats in addition to the driver's seat shall equip it with a seat belt for a person occupying the front-facing rear seat.

Penal Provisions:

The violation of any of the provisions of rule 138 (3) would constitute an offense punishable under section 177 MVA '88, which reads as follows -

'General provision for punishment of offenses-Whoever contravenes any provision of this Act (i.e. MVA '88) or of any rule, regulation, or notification made thereunder shall, if no penalty is provided for the offense, be punishable for the first offense, with a fine that may extend to one hundred rupees and any second or subsequent offense with a fine that may extend to three hundred rupees.'

There are advantages as well as disadvantages in using seat belt. CnP from Net.

Advantages:

· Seat belt usage reduces the chance of traffic-related fatalities by 45 percent. In 2006 over 15,000 lives were saved by seat belt use.

· In most cases, wearing a seat belt prevents ejection from the vehicle. Statistics show 75 percent of drivers ejected during a car accident were killed. Only one percent of them were wearing a seat belt.

· Wearing a seat belt minimizes the body's contact with the interior of the car resulting in fewer injuries. Seat belt usage reduces the chance of being injured by up to 50 percent.

· Seat belts spread the force of impact over larger parts of the body reducing severity of injuries. Injuries sustained when not wearing a seat belt can be up to five times greater.

· Average medical costs for belted drivers are 60 percent less than for unbelted drivers.

Disadvantages:

· Seatbelt use tends to increase risk-taking in drivers. This could lead to an increase in more severe accidents, which, in turn, reduces or mitigates the effectiveness of seatbelts.

· They sometimes contribute to accident-related injuries, as is described by the term "seat belt syndrome."

· In many cases, the fibers of the seat belt can cause harm to the chest and abdominal areas.

· It may also cause more serious damage to the internal organs like tearing of the colon or diaphragm. In some cases the lumbar vertebrae may even be fractured or dislocated.

Dear Boss / Pon,

Thank you for the inputs. Both of you have posted good information.

Boss, thanks for highlighting the rule numbers and sub-rule numbers. I knew the conditions in general, but your authentic post has helped me understand the rule numbers.

Pon, thanks for posting advantages and disadvantages. However, advantages bear more value. Although the disadvantages are also true, the frequency of those hazards may be less. After all, defensive driving is safe for all.

Thanks & Regards,
Sudhir

Dear Bhaskar,

Thanks for your time and for providing a great write-up with codes...Excellent.

Dear Pon,

Thanks for sharing the advantages and disadvantages on this thread.

Dear Bhaskar,

Very excellent and very useful information, especially with reference to Rules! Great work. Thanks a lot.

Dear Pon,

Thanks for your time and timely useful inputs.

Regards,
SSM

Dear friends,

I have simply reproduced the material available in a Google search and added nothing myself. Therefore, I do not deserve that much appreciation. However, Mr. Ponraj has provided some useful tips regarding the advantages and disadvantages of wearing a seat belt. We can consider this a great contribution.

Thank you.