National carmaker Proton Holdings Berhad will be spending a total of RM7 million to retrofit rear seatbelts to 225,930 units of its cars manufactured between 2004 and 2008.

The nationwide programme, which started yesterday, is expected to finish by end of next year, said Proton chairperson Mohammed Azlan Hashim.

"The government has legislated to make it compulsory for the rear seatbelts to be used by Jan 1 and Proton has taken this retrofitting onboard as part of its corporate social responsibility.

rear back seat belt 021208 "Also, installing rear seatbelts for a total of 225,930 cars could be done in the next 13 months," he said during the launch at Proton Mutiara Damansara showroom today.

The affected models that Proton will install for free 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 seatbelts.

The programme was being conducted in conjunction with the new regulations by the government for all three rear passengers to buckle up.

Although the ruling will be enforced beginning Jan 1, car owners who have not fitted their cars with rear seatbelts were given three-year grace period to comply.

It was earlier reported that the retrofitting service would be available at all Proton Edar Sdn Bhd and EON Bhd service branches.The retrofitting work is also expected to take about 20 minutes per car.

The launch today was also witnessed by deputy secretary-general of transport ministry Long See Wool on behalf of minister Ong Tee Keat.

Also at the launch was road safety department director general Suret Singh.

Mock enforcement

proton rear seatbelts launch damansara pc 021208 Later in the press conference, Suret said the road safety council will conduct a mock enforcement from Dec 15 where it will give out ‘mock' summonses for those who fail to comply with the new ruling.

"Although we don't actually give out real summonses, they are like a final warning. However, starting Jan 1, if you are not wearing the seatbelts be it in front or at the back, you will attract summonses. So beware of this," he added.

He further explained that the summonses should be issued to the drivers rather than the passengers if any of them failed to buckle up.

"For example, one summon will be issued on the driver if others in the car do not wear seatbelts because the driver should know better. He should not drive a vehicle when the passengers do not wear the seatbelts as this is also to protect the drivers (if accidents occur)," said Suret.

He also explained that an ordinary car should not load more than three passengers at the back, saying that it will attract summonses under other laws rather than the seatbelt ruling.

"Although we may not summon the fourth person (at the back seat) initially, we do not want the fourth person to be at the back in the first place. If you have the fourth person at the back, you are exceeding the capacity of the vehicle, so you (the driver) may be summoned by other law.

"This is because when you overload a vehicle, where an ordinary car is designed for four people, you are compromising steering control and also affect adversely not just the persons in front, but it also reduces breaking efficiency," he added.