HOW would you like to slammed into a brick wall at 100 kilometres per hour? Or have it happen to a child?
That’s a great reason to make sure you and your passengers are wearing seatbelts at all times when you’re driving, according to police.
It’s a simple as this – you and your passengers are 10 times more likely to be killed in a car crash if you or your passengers are not buckled up securely in your seat belt.
Warwick police said that apart from speeding, failure to wear seat belts is the most flouted driving law.
It’s a $300 fine and three demerit points in Queensland, but far beyond that wearing seatbelts is the safest way to prevent injury or death.
“We’re still seeing people not wearing seat belts,” Constable Wendy Tamblyn of Warwick police said.
“In Queensland it’s one of the major ticket offences detected,” she said.
Police officers are trained and have a keen eye for things like seat belts and mobile phone use.
“It’s not that we’re passionate about people not wearing seatbelts, but we are passionate about them not being flying projectiles in a vehicle,” Constable Tamblyn said.
Forgetfulness, short distance travel and complacency are the main reason given for not wearing seat belts. But none of these excuses stands up to scrutiny when compared with the potentially devastating results of not buckling up.
It is the driver’s responsibility to see that passengers are in their restraints, and remain in them.
Children in particular need special attention, not just to ensure they’re in a safe child restraint, but that it is properly installed in the vehicle.
The RACQ estimates that one in four children under seven years old is sitting in a child seat that is incorrectly fitted.
Children need to be in the correct seat for their age and weight and that it’s properly fitted.
Motoring organisations can help here, and Constable Tamblyn said police will be happy to check that child restraints were correctly fitted and suitable for the age and weight of the child.
Generally, children under seven cannot be allowed to sit in the front seats, except where there is only one row of seats in the vehicle.
As well, drivers should be aware it is against the law to smoke in a vehicle while a child under 16 years is in the vehicle.
In 1968, 3500 Australians tragically lost their lives in crashes.
Seatbelt wearing became compulsory in Victoria in 1970 and in other states soon after. By 1978. the number of fatalities fell to 2700.
Constable Tamblyn said the booklet The Essential Driving Companion is available at police stations in Queensland and urged drivers to brush up on the road laws.
