The Government of India, in a bid to make bus travel safer for commuters, is working on a plan to mandate seat belts for buses.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, during the Safety Pioneers Conference hosted by Intel in the capital, noted that the Government is working on introducing laws for mandating seatbelts in buses. While there's only limited information available around the development at the moment, it should be noted that the new rules, once implemented, will most likely be not implemented for buses operating within cities.
'We are going to make seat belts mandatory for bus services that are going from one district to another. This will not be for buses operating within a city,' said Gadkari. He added, 'It is time to think more about the safety of commuters.'
It is also not clear whether the existing buses operating in inter city routes will also be required to be retrofitted with seat belts or not. India, as per Statista, had a total of 1.5 million registered buses plying on its roads in 2019. It is worth noting here that around 22% of total state-run buses in the country are overaged. These facts were revealed at the Connect Karo event 2021.
The country, apart from replacing the overage buses, is also trying to convert all other buses to electric and hydrogen.
Therefore, OEMs may soon have to start accommodating seat designs with seat belts for buses. This will not just ensure the safety of passengers travelling in buses but a plethora of business opportunities for the automobile ecosystem.
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