Do you hear the last unspoken words of Cyrus ?

We will never know what were his last words which must have struggled to come out ? Was it : my dear ones you must wear seat-belts even on rear seat if you do not want to die like me ? Or was it : hell with these premium car makers, they care a hang for our safety ? Or : I wish I knew the perils of ignoring seat belt even in the rear seat ?

Death of Cyrus will, I hope, shift the focus of automobile manufacturers to ‘Safety First’. It should make all of us to choose being a little uncomfortable rather than unsafe. Background information about accidental deaths occurring because of not clipping safety-belt by passengers in the rear seat is shocking

If the news reports are correct, some people buying premium cars choose to have one without rear seat-belt to avoid discomfort. Cyrus’s demise will act as an eye-opener for all such comfort-seekers. Let us hope this tragic accident brings about a sustained total change of all concerned towards need to wear seat belts by rear seat passengers also.

According to a research finding, traffic crash mortality can be reduced by approximately 55-75% if they use seat belts. But in reality, use of seat belts among rear seat passengers is substantially low. According to another study use of seat belts by rear seat passengers can reduce substantially the mortality of even front seat passengers. Prior to this tragedy  many unknown, unsung and unpublicised persons must have lost their lives in accidents as they did not know that not wearing seat belt in rear seat is so dangerous, let alone wearing seat belt. Several research studies have found that many deaths are caused because of rear seat passengers not wearing seat belt.  A tall person like Cyrus had to die to make us understand the extent of risk we take by not wearing seat belt in the rear seat.

Add to these, deaths on roads because of bad roads, stray cattle on roads and persons on two wheelers without helmet. You will not believe that if you eliminate such accidents, only a small percentage will remain attributable to human error. It is painful to know that two-wheeler-riders hardly wear helmets. It is usual to take extra 2 to 3 persons including young children and senior citizens without helmets on the scooter.

I wish to make a fervent appeal to all my relatives, known and unknown  friends, acquaintances and to all those whom I do not know. Please wear safety belts and helmets.  I cannot bear reading any more unfortunate  names who have succumbed because of gross disregard of the need to wear safety belts by passengers in the rear seat as well. I need hardly add much known fact about helmets. Hardly 10% wear it and none of the extra passengers wears a helmet and the deaths of two-wheeler-users are because of this negligence.