Forcing passengers to belt up

Putting your seatbelt on when you get into a car might seem like the most natural thing in the world, but it is surprising how many people forget, or refuse, to buckle up when traveling in Shanghai's taxis.

The importance of wearing seatbelts has yet again been demonstrated after a man died in a traffic accident last month. After leaving Pudong International Airport, the taxi he was traveling in crashed into the back of a truck.

The man's relatives and friends have blamed the advertising screen on the back of the front passenger seat in the taxi for playing a major part in the fatality. The man's head was thrown against the touch screen. They even went as far as to ask the city's taxi companies to remove these advertising screens.

According to local media the man was sitting in the back seat in front of the screen. His wife, who was sitting next to him, was only slightly injured in the crash.

However, an initial investigation carried out by police stated that the man would have suffered similar injuries whether the screen had been on the back of the seat or not.

Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, what is obvious is that the man would have had a far higher chance of surviving the crash if he had been wearing a seatbelt.

Local media reported one Shanghai taxi driver as saying that his passengers rarely bother buckling up their seatbelts, whether they are sat in the front or the back of his cab.

Incredibly, some people think that there is no need to wear a seatbelt when they are traveling in a taxi because they believe they are in the hands of a professional driver. But the truth is that the chances of being involved in a traffic accident while in a taxi are just as high as in any other vehicle.

The problem in Shanghai is that most taxis don't have seatbelts in the back of the car. I think this is the foremost issue that needs to be addressed by the city's transport authorities. Because even if these touchscreens are removed, passengers are still in danger if they don't buckle up.

Second of all, new laws should be implemented regarding the mandatory wearing of seatbelts in order to assure passengers' safety. One incentive would be to introduce fixed penalty fines for both taxi driver and passenger if a passenger is found not to be wearing a seatbelt. Similar penalties are very widespread in Western countries.

It is only by tackling this issue seriously that we can hope to drive down the shocking statistics for traffic-related fatalities in China.