New campaign urges Northumberland residents to 'buckle up'

Road Safety GB North East (RSGB NE) is urging drivers to ensure they and their passengers are properly fastened in after revealing that 59 people injured on Northumberland’s roads since 2017 were not wearing seatbelts – seven of whom were killed and 23 were seriously injured. Many may have survived had they been wearing a seatbelt.

While not being strapped in properly featured in only five percent of total casualties on the county’s roads, 26 per cent of people killed in Northumberland were not wearing a seatbelt – demonstrating the clear link between not being fastened in and the severity of injuries.

Across the North East, almost half of those who were failing to wear a seatbelt, 49 percent, were aged between 17 and 34; and that age group accounted for 44 per cent of the people killed.

However, a closer look at the figures shows that 17-20-year-olds were actually the highest risk group. They accounted for 15 per cent of all injuries and 19 per cent of fatalities involving people not wearing a seatbelt.

RSGB NE chair Cheryl Ford-Lyddon said: “The majority of people are sensible and wear a seatbelt every time they get in their vehicle, but the figures show that too many people are risking their lives by failing to buckle up before they set off.

“We know that seatbelts and child seats save lives. People are needlessly killed every year purely because they weren’t fastened in properly. Perhaps they would have survived if they had taken the time to buckle up. That is a dreadful thought for their loved ones to have to live with.”

Children are also a major concern. During the last five years, eight children were killed or seriously injured in the region in collisions when not properly secured in the vehicle.

Sgt Glen Robson, Northumbria Police’s Road Safety Lead, said while not wearing a seatbelt was a major contributing factor to the level of injuries sustained on the region’s roads, it was not, in itself, the cause of collisions.

He said the latest statistics showed that risky and illegal behaviour featured heavily in collisions where seatbelts had not been worn, such as being impaired by alcohol or drugs, loss of control, careless, reckless or dangerous driving, and exceeding the speed limit.

He said this showed that people who failed to wear a seatbelt were much more likely to take other risks on the roads, too.

“Failure to wear a seatbelt is not a minor offence, failure to do so can result in avoidable deaths and serious injuries,” said Sgt Robson.

“It is astounding to think that in 2022 – 40 years since seatbelt use became mandatory – that some people still get behind the wheel without buckling up.”

The figures show that males were far more likely to be injured while not wearing a seatbelt than females, accounting for almost two thirds of casualties (64%).