Rear seat belt usage among Indian car occupants is dismal, reveals Nissan-Save LIFE study

This was further confirmed through an observational survey, conducted at strategic locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Lucknow, revealing that 98 percent respondents were in fact not using their rear-seat belt. Usage of rear seat-belts is very low despite over 70 percent of people affirming to the presence of rear seat-belts.

Motown India magazine has been propagating the use of safety belts in cars for a quite a while. Apart from the several write ups, the Motown India YouTube channel has made a couple of videos pointing out the miserable record among Indians when it comes to wearing safety belts in cars.

The study by Nissan India and Save LIFE Foundation also focused on the safety of children during commute and revealed that two thirds of respondents believed that Indian roads are unsafe for children. The report also revealed that despite 92.8 percent respondents reported being aware of the safety benefits of child helmets, only 20.1 percent respondents owned a child helmet. This becomes especially relevant in light of the latest data released by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) according to which9,408 children lost their lives to road crashes in year 2017 alone. This translates to nearly 26 child deaths on Indian roads every day.

With its findings, the report also builds a strong case for a comprehensive national Road Safety law, or the passage of Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill to bridge the policy-implementation gap and build a robust enforcement mechanism for better compliance. The need for both, better policy awareness and implementation, is evident in the report’s findings; only27.7 percent of respondents were aware that rear seat-belt usage is already mandated under the current law in India. Further, 91.4 percent of respondents felt the need for a strong child road safety law in India.

Nitin Gadkari said, "As India continues on its trajectory of rapid infrastructure growth, the role of road safety acquires immense importance. Through a combination of policy and awareness creation measures, the government has given road safety the critical importance it deserves. I would like to laud this initiative, and the willingness of corporate India and civil society to work together to make road safety a people's movement."

Commenting on the launch of the report, Thomas Kuehl, President, Nissan India Operations, said, “While there have been various initiatives undertaken to raise awareness around road safety in India, the importance of wearing rear seat belts has been completely neglected. At Nissan, it is our vision to enrich people’s lives and through this initiative, we aim to raise awareness around the usage of rear seat belts. Our strategic partnership with Save LIFE Foundation and SHARP will set a strong base to bring attention towards this important issue. The first phase of our campaign will focus on reaching out and educating over 200k children in 240 schools across 12 cities on usage of rear seat belts and road safety.”

The‘Rear Seat Belt Usage and Child Road Safety in India’ study,conducted by research firm MDRA for Nissan India and SaveLIFE Foundation, covered 11 Indian cities and recorded responses through 6,306 face-to-face interviews, 100 in-depth expert interviews, two focused group discussions and on-site observations to gauge compliance of CBSE School Bus guidelines as well as usage of rear seat belts.