'seat-belt Law' To Be Enforced With Immediate Effect

Miyuru Daminda · June 14, 2009

Seat belt law for vehicles is to be enforced with immediate effect and the fine for offenders would range from Rs.1000 to 4000. The law would apply to old vehicles as well and owners of old vehicles are advised to fix seat belts to their vehicles if they had come without seat belts.

According to regulations, first time offenders will face a fine of between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 2,000 and second time offenders between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000. Thereafter the fine will be between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 4,000. Unlike other traffic offences, offenders of ‘seat belt law would be produced in courts where the fine will be imposed.

The regulations were gazetted early this year but were not implemented because some of the older vehicles did not have seat belts. However police have decided to introduce it to the old vehicles as well and it would apply to all passengers.

Source lankapuwath,com & confirmed by Lakhanda radio news

tharindu6 · June 14, 2009

Miyuru Daminda said:
Seat belt law for vehicles is to be enforced with immediate effect and the fine for offenders would range from Rs.1000 to 4000. The law would apply to old vehicles as well and owners of old vehicles are advised to fix seat belts to their vehicles if they had come without seat belts.
According to regulations, first time offenders will face a fine of between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 2,000 and second time offenders between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000. Thereafter the fine will be between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 4,000. Unlike other traffic offences, offenders of ‘seat belt law would be produced in courts where the fine will be imposed.

The regulations were gazetted early this year but were not implemented because some of the older vehicles did not have seat belts. However police have decided to introduce it to the old vehicles as well and it would apply to all passengers.

Source lankapuwath,com & confirmed by Lakhanda radio news

Good move..this should have done long time back...but better late than never...only worry is my seat belt is busted since lsat week.... its stuck

YALA · June 15, 2009

wut happns to vehicles that orginaly did not come with seat belts...? im driving a 88 nissa pickup and it doesnt have any on it just the groove but the lower compartment where the belt is held is not there...and i noticed not much people driving with there seat belts on so is it in effect already??

fuzzo · June 15, 2009

the article says that even the old vehicles have to have seatbelts installed if it never came.

Grand Civic · June 15, 2009

Machan fuzzo, in future Lanu business will grow up in this case.

MasterDon · June 15, 2009

triptronic · June 15, 2009

how about three wheelers,do they too need seat belts..

jaga · June 15, 2009

triptronic said:
how about three wheelers,do they too need seat belts..

they can use "KOHU LANU" or else old cycle tubes.

YALA · June 15, 2009

and what about the buses...and who ever has to stand and go....wut kinda of belts do they get

gunat · June 15, 2009

I wonder if this constitutes a valid FR case, given that the law discriminates directly against cars owners only- whereas the bus/lorry/trishaw mafia are exempt...

hmm.....

LEGACY · June 15, 2009

Well another FR case for Vasu.......................

Supra_Natural · June 15, 2009

i saw this and went WTF immediately... Dont get me wrong, i advocate seatbelts, always wear 'em where available myself, but what about the old cars? it isnt always easy to properly fit belts to them, for instance, how do you fit a 3 point belt to a car that has no B-pillar?

naturally, nobody who wrote up this law seems to have thought of all that.

Saturn · June 15, 2009

gunat said:
I wonder if this constitutes a valid FR case, given that the law discriminates directly against cars owners only- whereas the bus/lorry/trishaw mafia are exempt...
hmm.....

Does not apply as car owners seem to have no rights, fundamental or otherwise

Actually this is a very good point - if the authorities really cared about safety they should apply this law to everyone.. not just cars/vans/suv's etc.. makes you wonder why they are doing this..

Edited June 15, 2009 by Saturn

Saturn · June 15, 2009

Miyuru Daminda said:
it would apply to all passengers.

Yes ladies, this applies to you also.

Not that I drive many ladies around but they do tend to have an aversion to seatbelts..

eyepea · June 15, 2009

Is it safe to ware a seat belt if you are rather short and the shoulder strap is touching your neck?

Just wareing the seat belt is rather uncomfortable.

Tried using a seat belt padding. But still it is uncomfortable and the padding is on the neck.

The seat belt mount point in the door piller cannot be lowered.

If there is even a slight jerk, am worrried that serious neck injurey may result

Thought of putting something like a thick rubber band near the mount point on the door piller to hold the belt closer to the door piller and away from neck. But then I feel it would be defeating the purpose of the belt.

This is for passenger side of a townace van.

Any suggestions other than sitting on a pillow ?

Btw, wonder if it is compulsary for little children to be put in car seats and not be taken on the lap ?

(ofcourse it is safer to use a car seat).

Thanks

crdesilva · June 15, 2009

Honestly I think it’s a good move, we should have done this ages ago. Though the law is there I wonder whether this will work in SL.

BTW guys do you’ll know what happened to the Speed Limit law? Have the Police got the new equipments yet? Good if they haven’t

fuzzo · June 15, 2009

there was an article in the papers recently with regards to the cost of putting up the speed limit signage. the municipal council needs a few mil to put them up apparently.

i think it's safe to say that we may not see this come up till the end of the year atleast.

Pericles · June 15, 2009

eyepea said:
Just wareing the seat belt is rather uncomfortable.

Its a lot more uncomfortable to find yourself sitting on the road after hurriedly exiting the vehicle thru the windscreen after a crash.

YALA · June 15, 2009

Pericles said:
Its a lot more uncomfortable to find yourself sitting on the road after hurriedly exiting the vehicle thru the windscreen after a crash.

he shouldnt be driving at that kinda speed in the first place...which might get him thrown off through the windscreen.....on a different note are all passengers in vehicles that do qualify for seat belts required to wear the straps...cos when i was in guam it was just the front passenger and the driver that was req to wear the belts....

ps...i was driving out to lunch and did not notice alot of drivers and passengers wearing the belts.....curious to see how the cops are going to takle it

Edited June 15, 2009 by YALA

Pericles · June 15, 2009

YALA said:
he shouldnt be driving at that kinda speed in the first place...which might get him thrown off through the windscreen.....on a different note are all passengers in vehicles that do qualify for seat belts required to wear the straps...cos when i was in guam it was just the front passenger and the driver that was req to wear the belts....
ps...i was driving out to lunch and did not notice alot of drivers and passengers wearing the belts.....curious to see how the cops are going to takle it

You don't need to be driving at speed. I'll give you a couple of scenarios.

1. Someone comes fast and rams you from behind.

2. Someone traveling fast slams into you from front.

3. Someone crashes into you sideways causing your vehicle to flip over (happened to an office van of ours. Bus it it from the side at a roundabout and it turned over on its side.)

4. car falls down a precipice.

YALA · June 15, 2009

Pericles said:
You don't need to be driving at speed. I'll give you a couple of scenarios.
1. Someone comes fast and rams you from behind.

2. Someone traveling fast slams into you from front.

3. Someone crashes into you sideways causing your vehicle to flip over (happened to an office van of ours. Bus it it from the side at a roundabout and it turned over on its side.)

4. car falls down a precipice.

yeh i can imagine 3 and 4...but point 1 the impact would be, u would be pushed back into your seat before and prob the dash board would stop you from from going overboard unless of course its a van......i always thought the risk of u getting hit from the back is ur neck moving back fast causing back and spine injuries and not been pushed out of the vehicle....and as for point 2 the extent of the impact would prob push back the front of the car and still the dash board should do the trick prevent u going over but def screw you up in royal style...interesting though never thought about these before..

SHAI · June 15, 2009

HelRazor said:

Supra_Natural said:
i saw this and went WTF immediately... Dont get me wrong, i advocate seatbelts, always wear 'em where available myself, but what about the old cars? it isnt always easy to properly fit belts to them, for instance, how do you fit a 3 point belt to a car that has no B-pillar?
naturally, nobody who wrote up this law seems to have thought of all that.

LOL....can't help but laugh at Helraizors errr comment.......

But seriously guys, rather than a 3 point belt, could your cars not be fitted with lap belts?

I'm thinkin they'd do the job effectively enough if properly fitted in. Or the possibility of a 'normal'

belt that would be anchored just over your shoulder at the back of the seat? just a thought.

What the piggies would say to these belts is beyond me tho....ignoramus's that they are

eyepea said:
Is it safe to ware a seat belt if you are rather short and the shoulder strap is touching your neck?
Just wareing the seat belt is rather uncomfortable.

Tried using a seat belt padding. But still it is uncomfortable and the padding is on the neck.

The seat belt mount point in the door piller cannot be lowered.

If there is even a slight jerk, am worrried that serious neck injurey may result

Thought of putting something like a thick rubber band near the mount point on the door piller to hold the belt closer to the door piller and away from neck. But then I feel it would be defeating the purpose of the belt.

This is for passenger side of a townace van.

Any suggestions other than sitting on a pillow ?

Btw, wonder if it is compulsary for little children to be put in car seats and not be taken on the lap ?

(ofcourse it is safer to use a car seat).

Thanks

Uncomfortable they may be my friend but they be what keeps you from meeting your maker a little early....

As for the kids mine are always strapped in.....my son who is 20 months rides in his car seat and my daughter who's 4 is strapped in to the back seat.....if she complains, she's put on a couple of pillows. This helps her see ou which is what she wants.

I personally think its very irresponsible of parents to let kids "run around" in the car......if they are trained from a young

age they will learn to stay strapped in. Both mine travel very well even for 4 to 5 hour journey's strapped in because I feel

they've gotten used to it............ I have a collegue in office who is now trying to get her 4 year old used to the belt with

the greatest of difficulty............Kids should be well protected after all they are more precious to us that anything right?

MasterDon · June 15, 2009

SHAI said:
LOL....can't help but laugh at Helraizors errr comment.......
But seriously guys, rather than a 3 point belt, could your cars not be fitted with lap belts?

I'm thinkin they'd do the job effectively enough if properly fitted in. Or the possibility of a 'normal'

belt that would be anchored just over your shoulder at the back of the seat? just a thought.

What the piggies would say to these belts is beyond me tho....ignoramus's that they are

it ruins the "originality" of the car machan.....that is a big no no for us

but i am going to insert a multi point harness to me MG A once it is completed because it will be driven quite regularly...just to please the cops

but i would never ever put them on the TC's,TR's etc.....NEVER!!!

HardHat · June 15, 2009

as for the children, if properly done, one needs to go through at least three or four child seats from the age 0 to 11 approx. Starts with rear facing infant seats, then to front facing child seats with 5 point harness one from age 1.5 to 4 approx and another larger size from age 5 to 8 approx. then booster seat which fits the child into the car's belt itself, which can be used upto age 11-12. can be quite expensive but for me nothing in this world is more percious for me than my child. beware of cheap products with cracking plastic and weak buckels and straps, which pust child in more hazard than actually riding without a seat.

hair on the back of my neck stands everytime I see a mother, with an infant or child on the lap, on front passenger seat of a car. just imagine the possibilities. car gets a head on - mother is thrown forward and baby crushed between mom and dashboard, or thrown out through the windsheild. air bags will not help and in despite the popular misconception, air bag can actually incraese risk of injury if not used in tandem with wearing a seat belt

Supra_Natural · June 15, 2009

HelRazor said:
it ruins the "originality" of the car machan.....that is a big no no for us
but i am going to insert a multi point harness to me MG A once it is completed because it will be driven quite regularly...just to please the cops

but i would never ever put them on the TC's,TR's etc.....NEVER!!!

hmm, i was thinking it over this morning, i guess simple lap belts would be the best option, in fact i think the car came with a set, i didnt fit them after the rebuild, must hunt them up and see if they are salvageable...

other option is to rip out my (admittedly rather impractical) cream colored interior, and toss in a pair of sports seats with four point harnesses!