New Delhi: In a bid to ensure road safety of children up to the age of 4 years, the road transport ministry on Wednesday issued a notification that mandates children below the age of four have to wear crash helmets and the motorcycles carrying them must install safety harness.
The new rules also state that the speed of a motorcycle with a child below four years being carried on the pillion will not exceed 40 kmph.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, "The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, vide notification dated February 15, 2022 has amended Rule 138 of CMVR, 1989 and has prescribed norms related to safety measures for children below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motor cycle."
"This has been notified under Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which mandates that the central government may, by rules, provide for measures for the safety of children below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motor cycle. Further, it specifies use of a safety harness and crash helmet. It also restricts speed of such motor cycles to 40 kmph," the statement further said.
The new traffic rules will come into force after one year from the date of publication of the Central Motor Vehicles (Second Amendment) Rules, 2022.
The safety harness is an adjustable vest to be worn by the child with a pair of straps attached to it and forming shoulder loops to be worn by the driver. In this way, the upper torso of the child will be securely attached to the driver.
For children below the age of four, the safety harness shall be used for attaching the child to the driver of the motorcycle, said the transport ministry.
"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 and child sits on the seat of the two-wheeler," the ministry said.
“This is undoubtedly a very good step. We often see parents riding with helmets on, but the kids lack such privilege. Aren’t their lives important? Many countries mandate kids wearing helmets on bikes. Even harness has been mandatory in Kerala for many years now. Several helmets with kids’ favourite cartoon characters printed on them are available in the market,” said Rajeev Kapur, managing director of Steelbird helmet manufacturers, as quoted in a report by DNA.