European Seat Belt Campaign

Warwickshire Police have taken part in the TISPOL Europe-wide seat belt enforcement campaign to remind, and to educate drivers and passengers about the importance of wearing seatbelts in a vehicle.

Between April 4 and 10, 2338 vehicles were spot checked at 26 sites throughout the county - resulting in 84 drivers and 69 passengers found not wearing seat belts.

Of the drivers breaking the law, 74 were driving cars and 10 people were driving goods vehicles. Three drivers were found to be carrying unrestrained children in the car. Offenders can be issued with a &erpound;40 fixed penalty ticket which they have to pay within 28 days. Failure to do so could mean prosecution in the Magistrates Court.

Speaking about the operation, Sgt Mark Steventon from the Force Road Safety Unit said: "Six and a half percent of people we checked, were found not to be wearing a seat belt. This is very disappointing especially considering three of those were children and their carers hadn't bothered to take the responsible action and belt them in.

"Unfortunately these results reflect what we see all the time, which sadly is reflected throughout the country. Last year the Transport Research Laboratory issued survey results, which revealed that 7% of car drivers still fail to belt up and around a third of adults sitting in rear seats don't bother to belt up.

"The law is there to save lives, even on the shortest trips and at the lowest speeds and I would urge all vehicle users to follow the law, keep themselves safe and take their responsibilities seriously"

The legislation relating to front seatbelts became law in 1983 and in 1994 the Act was extended to include rear seat occupants. Drivers and passengers in cars must wear a seat belt unless they have a medical exemption certificate. Children travelling in the car must use a seat belt or other appropriate restraint. It is the responsibility of the adult passenger (not the driver) to ensure that they are using the seat belt. The driver is responsible for ensuring that children under 14 years are properly restrained.

Last month, the law was revised in relation to seatbelt use for van and goods vehicle users when undertaking local rounds of deliveries or collections . On March 1 2005, users of vans and goods vehicles must wear their seatbelts, where they are fitted, if they travel more than 50 metres between stops for the purpose of delivering or collecting anything.

Click here to view a copy of the revised regulation.

During the last Europe wide seat belt enforcement campaign in 2004, forty-eight vehicles were stopped. Of these forty-six car drivers, two taxi drivers and five front seat passengers were dealt with for seat belt offences.