The decision to make seat belts, harness mandatory for travelling kids was long due

Indian parents are lax when it comes to ensuring the safety of children in cars and two-wheelers. In pre-COVID 2019, over 11,000 children died in road accidents. Many of them could have been saved had they been wearing restrainers in cars or helmets on motorcycles or scooters. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has finally taken a step in the right direction by trying to safeguard children riding two-wheelers. Children below four years of age have to mandatorily use helmets and harness belts when they are riding pillion. The safety harness should be lightweight, waterproof, cushioned and must have a 30kg load-carrying capacity. It is a vest to be worn by the child with a pair of straps attached and forming shoulder loops to be worn by the driver. This way, the upper torso of the child is securely attached to the driver. Two-wheelers carrying children cannot exceed 40 kmph. The crash helmets should be of international standard and correctly fit the head of children. It is normal to see a family of three or four, comprising parents and one or two children, on two-wheelers. The new rules mean there can only be two persons on the two-wheeler. That means the child can ride pillion with all precautions but can no longer be the one to sit in the middle between the driver and another adult. The Ministry should clarify this issue because the rider’s logic is that the person sitting at the rear, usually the mother, takes care of the child.

There may be further precautions necessary. The safety vest of children should be of bright colour that can be seen even at night so that other motorists know a child is travelling. The two-wheeler drivers at present hardly follow any traffic rules and, worse, drive in a zig-zag manner, overtaking from the left, putting children in danger. A national campaign for motorists to be on the lookout for child travellers is a necessity. Implementing the new rules is a tough proposition, but a beginning needs to be made. Worse is the situation of children travelling in four-wheelers. Those under 12, like in the western countries, do not have car seats in the rear. They do not wear safety belts. They should not be sitting in the front at all. It is common to see children jumping from the front to the rear in moving vehicles. What is most dangerous is parents allowing infants and toddlers to sit on their laps while driving. Children are not restrained from holding their hands or heads out of the window. The danger to children standing in a moving car, their upper torsos jutting out of the sunroof, is rarely realised. Private transporters who ferry school children pose another danger to the latter. These vehicles are generally overcrowded and are not driven safely. A comprehensive set of rules covering the gamut of vehicles is necessary to save children’s lives.