Not wearing a seat belt is invitation to death: Experts

NEW DELHI: Not wearing a seat belt – whether in a front seat or at the back – has emerged as the biggest reason for death in car accidents, especially at high speeds. It is a critical issue now, given the low rate of seat belt use in India and the lax enforcement of seat belt rules for back-seat occupants.
Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry’s death in a car accident on Sunday has drawn attention to the seat belt question, and the automotive experts and safety analysts TOI spoke to said not wearing a seat belt – especially in a car fi tted with airbags (the Mercedes car in which Mistry was travelling had seven) – is “certain death” in case of a high-speed crash.
“If you don’t use seat belts and are involved in a high-speed crash, you are bound to die. It’s an invitation to death,” said KK Kapila, chairman of International Road Federation, which claims to have members in over 80 countries. “It’s selfinfl icted death, even if you are in the best of vehicles with many airbags. ”
The combination of high vehicle speed and explosive airbag deployment can be catastrophic for a non-strapped occupant, analysts say.
“If unbolted (without belts), a rear-seat occupant will fl y through the vehicle at high speed and either collide with the front-seat occupants, or hit the seats and the dashboard hard, or even be thrown out through the windshield. In the case of a heavy person, it’s almost like the weight of an elephant hurtling towards death,” said David Ward, president of UK-based Global NCAP that promotes road and vehicle safety tests/norms across the world, addingthat Princess Diana’s death in a high-speed car crash in France, 25 years ago, is believed to have occurred under “a similar situation”.
Ward also said that not wearing seat belts in cars with airbags means you are tampering with the safety apparatus provided in the vehicle. “You are not allowingthe safety systemto operate as it should. ” Herecommends a combinationof effective policing andcampaigns to make peopleaware of the risk. Social entrepreneurPiyush Tewari, who isthe founder and CEO ofSaveLIFE Foundation anda member of the government’sNational RoadSafety Council, says highspeeds are a leading causeof road fatalities and policeshould look at seat-belt violations in the back row too. He says a study conducted by the foundationhad shown that more than athird of car deaths were dueto not wearing seat belts.