SriLanka, Sept. 23 -- Transport and Urban Development Minister, Bimal Rathnayake, told Parliament yesterday that the new mandatory seat belt regulation does not restrict passenger counts. Instead, the legal emphasis is entirely focused on ensuring that every single occupant in the vehicle wears a seat belt.

"We do not have the power to limit a vehicle to three or four passengers.

For example, if a family of five (two parents and three children) travels together, they are fully permitted to do so as long as an extra seat belt is installed in the middle of the back seat to accommodate the third child.

The Minister explained that vehicles already fitted with seat belts must have them worn by passengers, while vehicles without seat belts w...