Gopinath Munde's tragic accident: Use of seat belts should be made mandatory for all passengers in a vehicle

04 June, 2014

While the entire Nation totally gripped in grief and commiserations with the sudden demise of Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde, a veteran leader of BJP in a road accident, it has given one more reason for us to ask hard questions on the terrible road safety conditions of our country and the kind of safety norms we take in general and our negligence.

The main reason behind the shocking casualty of Gopinath Munde was primarily a “shock or jolt” that resulted from the accident of his car with another vehicle. That was a totally freak, pointless and senseless accident on an early morning when the roads are totally traffic free in the heart of Delhi. Looking at the scratches and dents on both the vehicles, as reported by media, one can easily identify that they had merely brushed against each other.

But the sudden and stern "shock" resulted from such collision lead Mr. Munde to severe internal injuries in terms of vertebral fracture, liver lesion finally leading to a cardiac arrest that caused his death. He also suffered from a small head and nose injury which imply that he might have hit the interior of the car because of the sudden jolt.

That’s why experts say had Mr. Munde been wearing a seat belt, he would have been alive and survived the fatality with a very minimum damage. Seat belt is basic equipment that helps the passengers from any sever damage as it stops the person to come out of his seat and hit other interiors of the car which is also called second impact in case of a mishap.

A seat belt has been called as a true life saver as it reduces around 50% of probability of serious injuries. But the serious irony among us is that, despite the risk of serious injuries, and facts that seat belts can be effective in saving the life of people sitting in the vehicle, we still neglect the use of seat belts while driving.

In big cities like Mumbai or Delhi at least people wear seat belt in the driving and front seat of a car but wearing it in the back seat is still a distant idea. In other places wearing seat belt in the first place is as remote as the area is.

So I think we must learn the lesson from such unwanted incidents. We must make wearing seat belt mandatory for all the passengers in car irrespective of the seat they sit on. At least this basic step will prevent many people from losing their lives.

However, I must say that India’s atrocious road safety conditions needs urgent and serious attention. Strong and stringent law and punitive punishment should be applied for the defaulters of over speed and drunk driving, usage of cell phone while driving and breaking traffic signals.

Our lives droop by a slender thread which can split any moment. In spite of the best of precautions taken by us, our destined time of departure is always an unknown entity. May be we are destined to die…but not untimely and seriously not because of our negligence and carelessness

I appeal to everybody please adopt and share the following basic precautions while driving:

Please do not over speed

Please do not use mobile phones while driving

And say a strict no, no to drunk driving

And last but not the least, never ever forget to wear the seat belts irrespective of the seat you sit on. The makers of modern-cars have provided rear seat belts not without purpose. There is always the possibility of a hit from the rear or from the sides, which could lead to irreversible losses.

We must remember that a small negligence would cost hugely with irreparable damage to not only our lives but other people also get affected by it.