Monday, May 19, 2008

Compulsory rear seatbelt usage from June 2008 onwards

Ever since Germany made compulsory the usage of rear seatbelt from 1984 onwards, more and more countries ruling the same, and Malaysia will have this enforced from 1 June 2008 onwards. A 3 months "grace period" will be given whereby passengers found breaking this rule will be warned, and from 1 September 2008 onwards, they will be summoned.

The function of seatbelt is to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the vehicle or other passengers during collision or emergency break. Passengers with seatbelt buckled up will have better chance to survive from accident, and researches have concluded that car drivers and/or front-seat passengers are 5 times more likely to die in a crash if their back-seat passengers are unrestrained.

However, by the moment this ruling in Malaysia only applies to cars manufactured from 1 January 1995 onwards. It is temporary waived for a 3 years period to those vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1995, after which the ruling will apply for them too. This is because most vehibles registered after 1 January 1995 are equipped with rear seatbelts, and those without are urged to fit in as soon as possible. Perodua Kancil and Kenari cars manufactured between 1998 until mid-2004 will also be exempted from the ruling until 2011 (3 years later).

This ruling is expected to impact on the total amount of passengers that can be carried in the car. A 5-seater can then carry up to 5 persons including the driver, all fasten with seatbelts respectively, and a 7-seater can carry 7 persons. So far, the Road Safety Department does not indicate whether seatbelt usage will also be compulsory for 3rd row seats or not.

Anyhow, the original Toyota Avanza already equipped with 7 seatbelts for all 3 rows of passengers, and has no problem for its passengers to comply with this ruling.

4 comments:

Anonymous said... Reply To This Comment

三年后,全国所有车辆都要有后座安全带吗?
我的车子是1986年的,没有后座安全带。这三年内要去安装才不会被对付,是吗?
请指教。

Voyager8 said... Reply To This Comment

我国的政府政策向来多变,三年后会如何执行,必须多留意当局最新公布的消息。

不过安全起见,装上后座安全带是值得进行的。

Anonymous said... Reply To This Comment

请问您有没有认识安装后座安全带的师傅?我是住巴生的。
谢谢

Voyager8 said... Reply To This Comment

没有耶!巴生有不少 accessory shop,应该有提供此服务。

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