NEW DELHI: Driving two-wheelers with children below four years as pillion at more than 40 kmph will be treated as traffic rule violation, the road transport ministry has proposed in a draft rule keeping in mind the safety of children. It has also proposed that the driver must ensure that child pillion passengers aged between nine months and four years must wear crash helmets and safety harnesses.
The ministry has issued the draft notification to amend the Central Motor Vehicle Rules to comply with the latest change in the Central Motor Vehicle Act. Violation of these norms attract a fine of Rs 1,000 and suspension of driving licence for three months.
According to the draft notification, the driver of a motorcycle in which there is a pillion rider below four years, safety harness has to be used for attaching the child to the driver. Safety harness has been defined as an adjustable vest to be worn by the child with a pair of straps attached to the vest and forming shoulder loops to be worn by the driver.
“This way, the upper torso of the child is securely attached to the driver. A feature by which this is achieved is by attaching the straps to the back of the vest and crossing the straps over the vest so that two large crossing-over loops are formed that pass between the legs of the passenger,” the draft notification said.
The protective gear including safety harness has to be lightweight, adjustable, waterproof and durable. This must be made of heavy nylon or multifilament nylon material with high density foam and shall be designed to hold weight upto 30 kg.
The ministry said once the final notification is issued after consultation with stakeholders, there will be a one year period to start the enforcement of the rule.
The proposed rules gain importance considering that two-wheelers remain the most unsafe mode of transport in India and across the developing countries. “We can see on our roads how people carry their children in a very unsafe manner. In case of a crash, children are most vulnerable as they don’t have helmets and are loosely held by their parents or the pillion riders. Currently, we have no regulation. The proposed norm will fill that existing gap in the law and will pave the way for its enforcement,” said Deepanshu Gupta of India Road Safety Campaign and a youth road safety ambassador for the European Commission.
Currently, there is no specific data on how many children below four years died in road crashes in India. The government collates data from all states and puts all children in one age group below 18 years.
