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Seatbelts became law 40 years ago but too many don’t belt up

Would you drive without a seatbelt? 40 years after they became law, a quarter of motorists want harsher penalties for those who don’t belt up (including Rishi Sunak!)

  • Drivers currently receive a max fine of up to £500 for not wearing a seatbelt
  • Poll finds that 24% think fines are too lenient – 69% want offenders to get 3 points
  • Seatbelts first became a legal requirement in Britain on 31 January 1983
  • Rishi Sunak was fined this month for failing to wear one in a video recording

On 31 January 1983, it became a legal requirement for drivers and front-seat passengers to wear a seatbelt in Britain. 

Forty years on, nearly a quarter of motorists believe too many continue to ignore the law – with this being a major contributor to crash deaths – and are demanding harsher punishments for offenders, says a new study.

Some 24 per cent of 1,800 UK drivers polled by the RAC said the existing maximum penalty of a £500 is not enough of a deterrent, with more than two-thirds (69 per cent) calling for three penalty points for drivers caught not wearing seatbelts.

Its survey revealed one in 25 admitting they driven without a belt in the past year and came in the same month Rishi Sunak was issued a fixed penalty by Lancashire Police, after a social media clip showed the Prime Minister in the back of a vehicle failing to wear a seatbelt. 

Drivers call on the Government to tighten up on seatbelt offences: Nearly a quarter of drivers believe existing fines of up to £500 for offenders is too lenient as today marks the 40th anniversary of the safety devices being a legal requirement in Britain

While 1983 saw the law changed so that drivers and front-seat passengers legally had to belt up, it only became compulsory for children aged 14 and under to wear a seatbelt in the rear of a car in 1989.

It wasn’t until two years later in 1991 that the legal requirement to wear the safety devices was extended to all vehicle occupants.

Yet despite laws dating back four decades, the proportion of drivers and passengers being killed on our roads when not wearing a seatbelt is the highest since records began. 

Of the number of people killed in crashes on Britain’s roads in 2021, Department for Transport statistics show that 30 per cent were not belted up (the largest proportion on records dating back to 2013).

Responding to the DfT’s road casualty statistics released in October, Katherine Fletcher, the former parliamentary under-secretary of state for the DfT, said this proportion of road deaths where occupants were not wearing seatbelts was ‘unacceptably high’.

The Conservative MP for South Ribble added that the Government has been ‘considering options to tackle this including the potential merits of introducing penalty points’.

Poll

Should there be stricter punishments for vehicle occupants who don’t wear a seatbelt?

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She went on to say that changing rules to allow for drivers and passengers to receive points ‘might form part of the Department for Transport’s planned call for evidence on motoring offences’.

According to drivers polled by the RAC, more than two thirds (68 per cent) believe the rules should change so that the person behind the wheel of a vehicle is responsible for ensuring all their passengers wear the safety devices.

UK drivers are currently only required to ensure themselves and children under the age of 14 are buckled up, with older passengers responsible for being secured.

One in 25 people admitted having driven without a seatbelt in the previous 12 months, with 22 per cent of these saying they do not belt up on at least half of journeys.

While seatbelts are a legal requirement for all vehicle occupants, there are a few exemptions, such as a driver who is reversing; a vehicle being used for police, fire or rescue services; or a delivery driver travelling no more than 50 metres between stops.

The maximum fine for not wearing a seatbelt is £500, however, offenders are most commonly issued with a £100 fixed penalty.

And these fines can be wavered if an offender agrees to take part in a £53 awareness course instead.

Under existing rules, both drivers and passenger over the age of 14 caught by police not wearing a seatbelt are issued with a £100 fixed penalty notice or need to sit a £53 safety awareness course

Over a third (36 per cent) of motorists polled by the RAC said enforcement of seatbelts should increase, which would mean boosting police numbers or allowing the use of camera-based technology.

The latter is already being tested by Warwickshire Police in conjunction with National Highway using a specially adapted van that can record passing vehicles using cameras mounted to a large metal structure that extends from its roof.

Footage captured by the Big Brother van is analysed by artificial intelligence and humans to determine if motorists were using a handheld phone or whether anyone inside the vehicle was not wearing a seatbelt.

In its first 64 hours in action last year, the van identified 512 people without a seatbelt while travelling on the M40 and A46, National Highways said.

On the hunt: The ‘Big Brother’ van was deployed by Warwickshire Police in 2022 to detect motoring offences. In the first 64 hours of use, it caught over 500 people not belted up

‘Today’s anniversary provides the ideal moment for the Government to show it’s serious about improving safety on our roads and put an action plan in place for getting more of us to buckle up in the first place,’ the RAC’s road safety spokesperson Simon Williams said.

Road deaths per billion miles driven in 2021 were higher than pre-pandemic levels

 

The number of people killed on Britain’s roads per billion miles driven was higher last year than pre-pandemic levels, new figures reveal.

The Department for Transport estimates 1,558 people died in crashes on British roads in 2021, which is 7% higher than the year previous when four of those months were spent in national lockdown sending traffic levels plummeting.

The report also highlighted a 193 per cent rise in e-scooter collisions, which resulted in 1,434 injuries – including 10 deaths – in total last year. 

> Read more 

‘For most people, getting into a car and putting on a seatbelt is second nature but it’s obvious more needs to be done to get those who haven’t developed this habit to change their ways.

‘Our research shows drivers are clearly supportive of greater penalties, which we know the Government is considering.

‘But, arguably, toughening the law isn’t enough: drivers need to think there’s a good chance of being caught in the first place.’

President of the AA, Edmund King, added: ‘The humble seatbelt is arguably one of the greatest road safety inventions, but they are pointless unless people wear them.

“A fine for not wearing a seatbelt simply isn’t enough and we will continue to push for greater Government focus on what interventions can be usefully instigated to ensure improved compliance with this life-saving law.

‘This could include penalty points for all legal-age car occupants caught not wearing a seatbelt.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was issued with a fixed penalty notice by Lancashire Police days after he was spotted not wearing a seat belt in an Instagram video he filmed while travelling as a passenger in a moving car during a visit to the county on 19 January.