Company will install centre rear seat belt for free on 226,000 Saga and Gen.2, Road Safety Department is optimistic other safety features such as ABS and airbag will become standard feature in the near future

I certainly hope that the 226,000 or so owners of Proton cars that qualify for the free-retrofit programme will appreciate what the national car company is doing and will quickly take up the offer.

Road Safety Department Director General, Datuk Suret Singh says that the Government will enforce the rule on Jan 1, 2009 and expects to see between 80 and 90 per cent compliance as we welcome the new year.

Suret and Transport Ministry Deputy DG trying out rear seatbelts in a Proton Gen.2

He also explained that the department is looking to improve the lvel of safety on locally sold cars and the first step is to get all Proton and Perodua high-end models to come with twin airbags and anti-lock brakes.

“Proton and Perodua has agreed to this and we are optimistic that these features will trickle down to all cars sold,” he said.

Suret praised Proton for their free-retrofit programme and urged Malaysians to start wearing rear seatbelts as soon as possible.

When asked about how the enforcement agencies will view an unbelted fourth or fifth passenger at the rear, Suret said they will not issue a compound for fourth or subsequent rear passengers who are unbelted but said that they could be found guilty of breaking laws regarding maxiumum number of passengers.

“They may get a summon under those laws,” he said.

Personally I think that the rear seatelt law should be enforced strictly and if people want to pack their cars with more than five people there isn’t much that we can do because not everyone can afford to own or run two car.

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National car company, Proton Berhad recently launched their free retrofitting of the rear third seatbelt in anticipation of the January 1 deadline for enforcement.

The programme covers 226,930 units of original Saga and Gen-2 models manufactured between 2004 and 2008.

These cars are fitted with only two rear seatbelts.

With the arrival of the new year, the Government will enforce the law requiring all passengers to buckle up.

Cars that are not sold with centre rear seat belts are given a three-year grace period to have them fitted.

According to Road Safety Department Director General, Datuk Suret Singh, the law requires that all three seatbelts be used if there are three rear passengers. If there are more than three passengers, they will not be fined as the number of seatbelts are limited to three.

“While we will not issue a summon for the fourth or fifth rear passenger that does not wear a seatbelt, they may actually run foul of another law that determines the maximum number of passengers that the vehicle can follow.

Suret is optimistic that the rate of compliance will quickly reach between 80 and 90 per cent, based on the result of surveys conducted by the department.

“Our target is to have 10 per cent compliance but from our study we know that the usage of front seatbelt has reached between 80 and 90 per cent and that is what we believe will happen with the rear seatbelt.

He praised Proton for their free retrofit programme, saying that it will contribute greatly towards reducing road accident deaths in the future.

Suret said Governmetn statitics show that 350 rear passengers  died last year as a result of not buckling up while 700 suffered serious injury and 2100 endured minor injuries in accidents.

Wearing rear seat belts would immediately reduce the numbers by 50 per cent and will have a dramatic impact on the number of deaths of front passengers impacted by unsecured rear passengers.

In the event of a 60km/h collision an unsecured rear passenger will hurl towards the frotn passengers with a force that is equivalent to fourty times their body weight.

With the enforcement deadline looming, Proton owners are encouraged to quickly make an appointment with the nearest Proton Service Centre so that they can have the centre belt fitted.

Asked if the department has a roadmap for making other safety features such as Anti-lock Brakes and Airbags mandatory on all cars sold in Malaysia, Suret said that they have reached and agreement with Proton and Perodua that all their top of their model range toppers should have twin airbags and anti-lock brakes.

“We are basically in agreement that these features should trickle down to more basic models in the future until all cars are sold with these important safety features,” he said.

National carmaker PROTON Holdings Berhad announces a nationwide exercise to fit  rear centre lap seatbelt for 225,930 units of cars it manufactured between 2004 and 2008.

The affected models, which were not pre-fitted with the centre seat belt are  the earlier Proton Saga model manufactured between 2004 and 2008 (144,000 units), and the Gen2 model manufactured between 2004 and June 2008 (81,930 units). These cars were fitted only with two rear seat belts.

This exercise is conducted in conjunction with rulings made by the Government to require all three rear passengers to buckle up. Although the ruling is expected to be enforced beginning January 1, next year, car owners were given three-year grace period to comply.

PROTON managing director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin bin Syed Mohamed Tahir said in view of the new ruling, PROTON will retrofit the centre rear lap seatbelt for free on the affected cars.

“As a responsible car manufacturer, PROTON supports the government’s move and believes that it should not burden the car buyers to pay for the extra seat belt,” said Dato’ Syed Zainal, adding that this exercise is important for the safety of the passengers.

He added that the exercise would cost PROTON about RM7.3million and it was conducted as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility iniatives.

Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin advised car owners to not rush into the service centres as the installation will only be done upon prior appointment.

The exercise to retrofit the cars will commence on 1st of December 2008for Peninsular Malaysia and on 1st of January 2009 for Sabah andSarawak. PROTON is expected to take about 13 months to complete the retrofitting exercise. The retrofitting service will be available at allProton Edar Sdn Bhd and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON Berhad)Service branches, as well as all service dealers nationwide.

To make appointment, customers are required to call the nearest service outlet. For information on service outlet locations and contact details, customers may call the PROTON i.care toll free number 1300-880-888 for assistance. Alternatively, customers may also register for an appointment via Proton dar’s official website www.proton-edar.com.my<http://www.proton-edar.com.my/&gt; . Upon online registration, personnel from the nearest service outlet will contact the customer to confirm on an appointment date and time at the nearest service branch.
Customers are also advised to write down their car chassis number and the preferred colour, before making an appointment either by phone or online registration. Retrofitting work will take approximately 20 minutes per car.

PROTON had in June signed an MOU with the Road Safety Department of the Ministry of Transport for collaboration in researching, developing and promoting vehicle, road and user safety through a community-based program in the country.

The PROTON-Road Safety Department partnership will extend to joint road safety campaigns as well as conducting car crash demonstrations, safe driving clinics, car maintenance clinics, and highlighting the importance of seat belt usage.