The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways on 26th October 2021 has notified Central Motor Vehicles Draft Amendment Rules, 2021 which provides the measures for the safety of children below four years of age riding or being carried on a motorcycle.
As per the draft rules, the driver of a motorcycle shall ensure the following safety measures while carrying a child between the age of 0 and 4 years, on the vehicle as a pillion , namely: –
- For children below four years, Safety harness shall be used for attaching the child to the driver of the motorcycle.
- The driver shall ensure that the child pillion passenger aged between 09 months and 4 years must wear his/her own crash helmet which fits his/her head or wear bicycle helmet complying with [ASTM 1447]/ [European (CEN)BS EN 1080/BS EN 1078] till such time that the specifications are prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016.
- The speed of the motorcycle with the child upto age 4 years being carried as a pillion, shall not be more than 40 kmph.
Further, the explanation to the term safety harness has been notified under this rules which state as follows:
The 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. 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.
