Seatbelts campaign running this week

Having started on Monday and running until Sunday evening, Northumbria Police will be supporting a TISPOL (European Traffic Police Network) campaign aimed at seatbelt enforcement.

It highlights not only the consequences if you don’t wear your seatbelt, but also encourages motorists to comply with seatbelt legislation, which will contribute to reducing injuries and fatalities on our roads.

It is also an opportunity to educate drivers on the fairly recent change in law regarding child seatbelts, which changed in March last year.

It now states that children must use a child seat until they’re 12 years old or 135cm tall, whichever comes first.

Under these new regulations, the cushion booster seats will be restricted to older children. Only children who weigh 22kg or more, or 148cm tall, will be recommended to use the booster seat.

Insp Dean Hood, of Motor Patrols, said: “This campaign is an excellent opportunity to highlight the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt and what the consequences can be for you and others if you don’t.

“It is important we reach out to as many drivers as possible as this affects all motorists. Statistics show that drivers and passengers aged 17 to 34 have the lowest seatbelt-wearing rates combined with the highest accident rate. Our officers need to ensure we do everything possible to make sure our roads are safe and those driving on them are correctly protected.

“Figures show that you’re twice as likely to die if you don’t wear a seatbelt. We need to make sure drivers wear their seatbelt at all times, even on short journeys, as this is often when people think it is okay to not wear one – they need to realise it only takes a second to be involved in a collision.”

Full details of the legislation on car seats can be found here.