India's transport minister Nitin Gadkari asked Amazon to stop selling metal clips that can be inserted into seatbelt slots to bypass the alarm, and shortly after, the retail company confirmed that it has done so.
Gadkari urged for a ban of seatbelt alarm blockers after businessman Cyrus Mistry died in a car crash over the weekend.
Metal clips that are priced from as little as 249 rupees ($3.12) are inserted in seatbelt slots to bypass the alarm that typically keeps pinging when seatbelts are not in use while a car is being driven. Amazon said it had removed relevant products and would take strict action against any sellers that were offering such products.
Seatbelt alarm blockers
India is the world's fourth largest car market, and each year more than 150,000 people are killed in vehicle accidents. Every four minutes, one person dies as a result of these incidents.
Gadkari said that, by end-2024, India plans to halve road accidents and deaths by making seatbelt alarms mandatory for rear seats, as well as the driver's and front passenger's seats.
Even though the seatbelt clips in question aren't available in India anymore, Amazon hasn't done anything to stop their sale in other markets. A quick look through the marketplace shows that a number of these blockers can be bought, and many of them come with free shipping.
Source: Reuters
