It is believed that up to one in four deaths can be prevented.
Since 1965 it has been a legal requirement for car manufacturers to equip vehicles with seatbelts, the law to psychically wear them when driving, or as a passenger in a moving vehicle, has been implemented since 31st January 1983.
Due to the invention of the seatbelt, thousands of lives have been saved and countless injuries prevented over the last fifty plus years but unbelievably, high numbers of drivers and passengers are taking their chances when it comes to the roads and refusing to wear them.
The seatbelt has been one of the safest inventions in transport history, but British road deaths have now reached record revels, as more than a quarter of car occupants killed on the roads last year were not wearing a seatbelt.
Similar to the numbers in 2016, last year saw a grand total of 1,793 people killed on British roads. The Department for Transport (DfT) reported that a staggering 27% of the 787 car occupants who were killed in crashes/collisions on British roads in 2017, were found not to be wearing a seatbelt.
The fine carried with not abiding by the seat belt law can stretch from £100-£500 but it could quite literally cost a life.
Seatbelt wearing has been reported in annual accident records since 2013, and the proportion of fatalities who chose not to abide by the law has fluctuated between 19-22% for many years, so 2017’s statistics do not bode well for a country that is noted to have some of the safest roads in the World.
It is believed by the Dft that up to one in four deaths can be prevented by the simple motion of clipping yourself in to the vehicle being driving.
TH!NK Road Campaign, a department of the DfT, work to ensure the British public know how to be safe on the roads and aim to educate drivers on all aspects of transport safety.
Recently their focus have been on motorbike safety awareness but 2019 will show a huge emphasis from TH!INK as they change their focus to younger drivers and explore the importance of seatbelt wearing.
There is also discussion of more robust driver licensing system and, with so many of the countries roads being rural, there is talk of implementing safer speed limits up and down the UK.
The percentages are staggering, as the DfT debate in what ways they can help people realise the importance of transport safety and seatbelts.
