Safety harness, crash helmets mandatory for child pillion; Centre notifies draft rules

The central government has notified the draft rules for safety provisions for child pillion riders.

A safety harness is a vest to be worn by the child. It is adjustable and has a pair of straps 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 cross-over loops are formed that pass between the legs of the passenger.

The safety harness should be lightweight, adjustable, waterproof, and durable. It should be made of heavy nylon or multifilament nylon material with high-density foam designed to hold a weight of up to 30 kg.

The Centre has also recommended crash helmets. The driver has to ensure that the child pillion passenger aged between nine months and four years must wear his/her own crash helmet which fits his/her head or wear a bicycle helmet prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016.

The speed of the motorcycle with a child up to age four years being carried as a pillion shall not be more than 40 kmph.