Come June 2008, the rear seatbelt ruling will come into effect (but this shouldn’t stop you from starting now). Starting from June 2008, there will be an advocacy period of 3 months after which strict law enforcement will be in place.

From the survey done by MIROS, most vehicles registered after 1 Jan 1995 comes with rear seatbelts. However, for private vehicles manufactured before 1 Jan 1995, this ruling is exempted. Private vehicles without rear seatbelt manufactured after 1 January 1995, they will have 3 years  to comply.

There are concerns about for inadequate seat belts in a 5 seater cars for large families. From a survey done by MIROS, 91% of the time there are less than 3 passengers at the back. For the 9% group, they should consider about safety for the rest of their passengers. Nevertheless, for large families, in cases where rear seatbelts are inadequate, they will be exempted from the ruling.

We should consider the fact that accidents do happen and it can happen to anyone. It is easy to take for granted the safety of those at the back and we’re so used to not buckling up when sitting at the back.

Don’t wait for June to come, buckle up now for those at the back!

Update: This blog entry is edited to clarify and correct some factual errors. The webmaster wish to apologise for the confusion caused by this blog entry.

Watch this blog for more articles coming from individuals or organisations on matters of road safety. We welcome contribution from anyone on road safety topics. If you have critism (please do it constructively) or suggestions about government’s implementation of road safety policy, drop us a mail at the e-Suggestion Box or if you want to publish your opinion on this blog, send a mail to the Blog owner. Discuss with others on road safety in Malaysia at the Coffee Shop forum. Engage us. We’re listening.