Amazon Purges Seatbelt Alarm Blockers Amid Ongoing Debate on Road Safety

Amazon on Thursday reportedly stated that it had removed listings of seatbelt alarm blockers, or objects designed to shut off alarms for seatbelts in cars, from the e-commerce platform. The company’s revelation that the products are no longer available for purchase on the website comes a day after Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had asked the company to act against them, amid a fresh debate on road safety following the death of businessman Cyrus Mistry in an accident last week

The seatbelt alarm blockers, which are purportedly used to turn off the alarm designed to warn pasengers in a car to wear their seatbelt, were no longer available for purchase on the e-commerce platform, the company told Reuters on Thursday. The objects resembled a seatbelt clip, and could be inserted in the slot to shut off the alarm, instead of a regular seatbelt.

Amazon also stated that it takes strict action against sellers who are found to be selling products in violation of Indian law, as per the report.

These seatbelt blockers were said to be priced as low as Rs. 249, Gadgets 360 was unable to locate these products on Amazon on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari reportedly stated that he had asked the e-commerce giant to act against the seatbelt alarm blockers

According to reports, Mistry, who died in a car crash last week, was not wearing a seatbelt. The businessman’s death has sparked the debate on road safety and accidents in India, which caused over 1.5 lakh deaths in the country last year.