Seatbelts
You must wear a seatbelt if there is one fitted. It is a £60 penalty for failing to belt up.
Some people seem to forget that seatbelts save lives, even on the shortest trips and at the lowest speeds.
The latest Think! TV ad - 'Backwards' - shows what happens to three young men in a car crash when they're not belted in, then the sequence is re-run with them wearing seatbelts.
The aim of the seatbelt campaign is to tell drivers and passengers of the importance of wearing your seatbelt both in the front and the back of a vehicle. This is based on the insight that the real crash happens inside the car (impact with the screen, dashboard, and other passengers). The strategy also seeks to target short trips at low speeds in urban areas, as it is often on these types of journeys that drivers don't belt up.
Lap Belts
Concern has been expressed at the use of lap belts, which are generally located in the centre of the backseat in some older cars.
Although three-point seatbelts are best, wearing a lap belt is far better than wearing no seatbelt at all, because the greatest risk of injury to car occupants in a collision comes from being thrown about inside the vehicle or being ejected from it.
The lap belt should go over the pelvis (not the soft stomach area) and fit as tightly as possible. Most car manufacturers now fit at least some of their range with a three-point seatbelt in the centre of the rear seat.
Seat belt wearing in Pregnancy
All pregnant women must wear seatbelts by law when travelling in cars. This applies to both front and back seats and pregnancy does not in itself provide exemption from the law.
Medical research has shown that the safest way to wear a seatbelt is to place the shoulder strap over the breastbone and the lap belt flat on the thighs, fitting comfortably beneath the bump. In this way, the forces applied in a sudden impact can be absorbed by the body's frame.
It is inadvisable to wear 'Lap-Only-Belts' as opposed to lap and diagonal belts as they have been shown to cause grave injuries to unborn children in the event of sudden deceleration. Mother and unborn child are both safer in a collision if a lap and diagonal belt are worn.
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This page was last updated on 4 November 2009
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