In recent years， as public safety awareness has grown， front-seat occupants generally buckle up. However， the phenomenon of rear-seat passengers neglecting to wear seatbelts remains prevalent.
On October 8th， a ride-hailing car in Chengdu experienced a rear-end collision due to the driver’s fatigue. At the moment of impact， a rear-seat passenger who was not wearing a seatbelt， subjected to immense inertia， tragically suffered a severe head impact against the front seat. This resulted in a fractured cervical spine， and despite rescue efforts， the passenger unfortunately passed away. In stark contrast， the driver， who was wearing a seatbelt， sustained no injuries in the accident.
A similar tragedy occurred just two months prior. On August 6th， a ride-hailing vehicle en route to Chengdu Tianfu International Airport collided with a utility pole on the roadside， again attributed to driver fatigue. A rear-seat passenger， not having fastened their seatbelt， repeatedly struck their head against the car’s roof and the front seats during the crash. Ultimately， they succumbed to their injuries from severe brain trauma.
In response to these incidents， CCTV News explicitly stated during a program that it is illegal for rear-seat passengers to not wear seatbelts.
Article 51 of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China clearly stipulates that drivers have the obligation to remind and urge passengers， whether in the front passenger seat or the rear， to fasten their seatbelts at all times during the journey.
This means that regardless of whether you are occupying a front or rear seat， you are legally required to wear a seatbelt for the entire duration of the trip. Any failure to comply with this regulation should be considered a violation of the law.
Testing has consistently demonstrated that seatbelts are crucial for securing occupants in their seats， enabling other vehicle safety features to function effectively. Data from the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security indicates that standardized seatbelt usage can increase the survival rate of vehicle occupants in potentially fatal accidents by 60%.
Specifically， the mortality rate in traffic accidents increases by 37.7 times when the driver is not wearing a seatbelt. For front-seat passengers and rear-seat passengers who are not buckled up， the mortality rates increase by 10.6 times and 3.1 times， respectively.
