Plea for airbags, safety equipment in cars

A petition seeking airbags and other safety equipment in vehicles to prevent the loss of lives in road accidents was filed in the Lahore High Court on Monday.

Advocate Safdar Shaheen Peerzada moved the petition seeking directives for car manufactures to install airbags and other safety equipment in cars. He stated in his petition that auto manufacturers sell their vehicles in the country at high prices yet they lack safety equipment.

The non-availability of airbags and other safety equipment in cars result in the loss of lives in accidents, he added. The petitioner pleaded with the court to direct auto manufacturers to ensure safety equipment in cars and impose a ban on introducing new models of vehicles without safety equipment. He requested the court to impose a ban on driving at a speed of more than 60 kilometers per hour within the limits of cities and direct traffic police to ensure enforcement of a ban on underage driving.

The petition comes on the heels of a gruesome traffic accident in which the teenage son of PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira had lost his life along with his friend in Lalamusa last Saturday. According to PPP spokesperson, Usama’s car crashed into a tree when he was on his way to Islamabad. —Correspondent