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Keep seat belts in the open, taxi drivers told
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CABBIES are being urged by the city transport authority to keep seat belts in full view to ensure that passengers can easily find them.
Often they are tucked away down the side of back seats as many passengers don’t use them and complain that they are a nuisance lying on the seat.
In China, only the driver of a car is legally required to wear a seat belt.
The Shanghai Transport Commission issued its appeal following an accident last week in which a back seat passenger who hadn’t buckled up was hurt.
The woman, surnamed Zhang, ended up with a loose tooth and abrasions to her mouth when her face hit the screen above the driver’s seat after the cab rear-ended a vehicle on Yan’an Road.
Realizing that wearing a seat belt could have prevented her injuries, Zhang afterward made a point of looking for them whenever she got into a cab, reported Xinmin Evening News.
But she said she couldn’t find seat belt buckles in some taxis, while others were tucked out of sight.
The commission said all city taxis are fitted with safety belts in front and back seats.
Taxi companies face fines of between 200 yuan (US$33) and 2,000 yuan if a cab is found not to have safety features — including seat belts, it added.
A Shanghai Qiangsheng Taxi Co driver told Shanghai Daily that some passengers who don’t use safety belts push them down the sides of seats.
Under Chinese law, anyone driving a vehicle without wearing a safety belt will lose points from their license.
Traffic police said a taxi driver has a responsibility to remind passengers to fasten seat belts. This also features in the broadcast at the start of a ride.
But no action will be taken if passengers choose not to wear seat belts.
Passengers can report missing cab safety belts to city hotline 12319.
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