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Govt proposes helmet, harness for kids riding pillion
The proposed rules make it mandatory for the driver to ensure that a child pillion rider aged between nine months and four years wears a crash helmet, failing which right-sized bicycle helmets complying with European standards will also be acceptable.
Children riding pillion on two-wheelers may soon have to wear a helmet and a safety harness attached to the rider, the Union transport ministry has proposed, a significant development in a country where three-quarters of all vehicles on roads run on two wheels.
The speed limit for two-wheelers with children on them will be 40km per hour, the ministry said in a draft notification made public on Tuesday for comments and suggestions.
At least 75% of the 277.1 million vehicles in India are two-wheelers, according to government data (Vaahan dashboard). In Delhi alone, of the over 10 million registered vehicles, at least 7.3 million are two-wheelers.
Any violation of the proposed rules will invite a fine of ₹1,000 and the driver’s license will be suspended for three months.
“For children below four years, safety harness shall be used for attaching the child to the driver of the motorcycle… Safety harness is a vest to be worn by the child, which shall be adjustable, 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,” read the draft notification.
The government should also fix accountability of adults carrying children precariously on two-wheelers, said Piyush Tewari, founder and chief executive of SaveLIFE Foundation, a non-profit working to improve road safety. “Each day, more than 30 children are killed on India’s roads, many of them as riders on two-wheelers. It had become imperative to enact appropriate provisions in the law for their protection,” Tewari said. “We, therefore, welcome this move by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, and suggest that adult accountability be fixed as well so that poor behaviour by those accompanying children can be discouraged.”
The proposed rules make it mandatory for the driver to ensure that a child pillion rider aged between nine months and four years wears a crash helmet, failing which right-sized bicycle helmets complying with European standards will also be acceptable.
The Bureau of Indian Standards has been asked to study and specify standards for the safety harnesses and crash helmets for children, a transport official said. “Till the time BIS comes out with the Indian specifications for these items for children, the European standards are to be followed,” he said, requesting anonymity. “BIS will come out with the prescribed specifications soon.”
Till the time the BIS prescribes standards, the safety harness for children should be lightweight, adjustable, waterproof and durable, the ministry proposed. It should be made of heavy nylon or multifilament nylon with high density foam, and should be able to hold a weight up to 30 kg, it said.
Countries such as Portugal, Luxembourg, Austria and Czech Republic do not allow children below seven years to ride pillion. While laws in many states of the United States forbid children under one year to be transported on a bicycle, a few states allow it by using an infant sling or trailer as an optional equipment to carry infants. In the European Union, children of nine months to five years of age are allowed to ride pillion only if the child is able to sit unaided, according to a report by the World Health Organization on child development and motorcycle safety.
