Safe Speed Forums

.... are drivers that don't wear seatbelts involved in the same number of crashes as everyone else? I can't help thinking that if someone isn't wearing a seatbelt they may be taking risks elsewhere that predisposes them to danger.

I'm sure I've used this example before (senility, thy name is Johnny), but if you frequently drive in a situation where belt-use isn't required, it's very easy to get out of the habit.

I spent a year or two working airside at Heathrow, where belts are not required, but dipped beam is, and so when driving on 'real' roads, I would often jump in my van and automatically flick the lights on and drive off without my belt on.

To be fair this only applied in my van: belt-free driving always felt wierd in my car, even at the time.

Yep, this used to happen to me when I drove service vehicles for short distances across the airfield. Nobody ever wore a belt and, although we seldom if ever took the vehicles off the base, I often found myself leaping in my own car a driving off beltless.
And yeah, it does feel really weird driving your own car without a belt

And yeah, it does feel really weird driving your own car without a belt

Of course the question here is why you didnt wear the belt on the airfied?

To be fair this only applied in my van: belt-free driving always felt wierd in my car, even at the time.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/search/d ... horror.php

THESE are the faces of identical twins Tim and Tom Rotheram.

The 16-year-olds, from Westhoughton, were involved in an horrific crash when the car they were travelling in spun out of control and hit a lamp-post.

Tim, the front seat passenger, escaped with whiplash and minor cuts and bruises because he was wearing a seatbelt.

But twin Tom, who was sitting in the back of the car, had not belted up.

And the scars he will live with for the rest of his life will always be a reminder of that mistake.

Tom was thrown through the windscreen when the Mitsubishi Colt hit the lamp-post in Manchester Road, Westhoughton last Friday. His throat was slashed by shattered glass which narrowly missed his jugular vein.

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Both brothers know how lucky they are to be alive and hope their experiences will act as a warning to others to belt up and be safe.

Tim, aged 16, said: "We'd just gone out to pick up some pizza and we were about five minutes away from home.

"My girlfriend was driving and Tom, his girlfriend and another mate were in the back.

"The next thing I knew, we'd hit this lamp-post.

"I can remember seeing Tom go through the windscreen, roll over the bonnet and hit the pavement.

"His girlfriend wasn't wearing a seatbelt either and she went through the windscreen as well.

"I climbed out through the windscreen and I can remember pulling my girlfriend out and opening the door for my other friend. Everyone was covered in blood and I was scared the car was going to blow up."

Witnesses say the car was not being driven with excessive speed and the 18-year-old driver has not been interviewed by the police.

The five youngsters were taken by ambulance to the Royal Bolton Hospital for treatment.

The twins' girlfriends and friend received treatment for minor injuries.

Tom needed emergency surgery to stitch up his throat and facial injuries and left hospital two days later.

Both brothers, who are A-level students at Westhoughton College, have suffered flashbacks and nightmares since the crash.

Tom, the elder twin by 40 minutes, said: "I didn't put my seatbelt on because it was only a short journey home and I thought I would be OK because there were three of us on the back seat and we were squashed in. I know it was stupid.

"I can't remember going through the windscreen but apparently I was conscious when I was on the pavement."

Their parents Alison and David Rotheram, of Cow Lees, were on holiday when the crash happened and had to be told the news over the phone by their eldest son Mark.

Mrs Rotheram, aged 51, a physiotherapist, said: "We've always told them to wear a seatbelt. When I heard Tom had gone through the windscreen I felt sick and when I first saw them I just crumpled. I think sometimes at that age you think you're invincible but this isn't a lesson they're going to forget in a hurry and they want others to learn by what happened to them."

According to the Department for Transport, 10 per cent of drivers and front seat passengers, and 40 per cent of rear seat adults do not wear seatbelts. Ten per cent of rear seat passengers do not use seatbelts or child restraints and around 10 front seat users are killed every year by unbelted rear seat passengers.

A spokesman for the Department's Road Safety Campaign said: "Wearing a seat belt in the front seat saves more than 2,200 lives every year.

"Everyone knows they should wear a seat belt in the front seat, but many people still don't realise how dangerous it is not to wear a seat belt in the back.

"In a crash at 30mph, if you are unrestrained, you will hit the front seat, and anyone in it, with a force of between 30 and 60 times your own body weight.

"This could result in death or serious injury to you and people sitting in the front seat.

"Any compensation for injury following an accident may be reduced if you were not wearing a seat belt.

"By law, you must wear a seat belt if one is fitted. There are very few exceptions to this and the driver is liable to prosecution if a child under 14 years does not wear a seat belt."

I remember being held into my seat by the seatbelt. Andrew tried to get me out and I fell onto the floor of the taxi. I could not get up. My back was hurting me. Then someone realised the blood was coming from my knee. My other friend's stiletto heel had gone through my shin and I could not feel this because my back hurt more.

Penalty points for drivers not wearing seat belt
By David Millward, Transport Editor
Last Updated: 1:57AM BST 17/05/2008

While 94 per cent of drivers normally wear seat belts, accident investigators found that only 65 per cent of drivers who were killed in crashes did so.
The statistics have led to pressure on the Government from road safety groups to take tougher action.

Until now the Department for Transport had been willing to rely on persuasion and was mounting another publicity campaign in the hope of convincing a hard core of drivers who refused to belt up. However, it signalled its readiness to take tougher action in a review of road safety strategy.

The department said it was ready to consider “making non-compliance with seat belt wearing an endorsable offence”. One option available to ministers would be to follow the example of Northern Ireland, where drivers can get penalty points on their licence if they are not wearing a seat belt but passengers failing to do so are fined.

In the rest of Britain, motorists and passengers over 14 can be fined £30 for not wearing a seat belt. A driver is also responsible for any passenger 13 or under.

The case for taking stronger action has been bolstered by casualty figures that show that the number of car occupants being killed is declining far slower than the number of pedestrians.

While the death toll of pedestrians was 33 per cent lower in 2006 than the average for 1994-98, the figure for drivers fell by only five per cent and passengers 14 per cent.

“Seat belts save lives yet even now a small minority refuse to buckle up,” said Robert Gifford, the executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. “On current estimates around 300 lives could be saved a year if wearing rates both front and back were raised to nearer 100 per cent.

“Not wearing your seat belt puts both the driver and passengers at risk. Increasing the penalty would send a clear message to all drivers that a seat belt is not an optional extra but a life saver.”

Proposals for the change were also endorsed by Brake, the road safety charity.

“Something has to be done to get at the last group of people who are unconvinced about the need to wear seat belts,” said Cathy Keeler, the charity’s head of campaigns.

“People are being killed because they failed to belt up. For these people education is not enough, some form of deterrence is necessary.”

But the proposals were condemned by the Association of British Drivers. “Why don’t they just give us nine points as soon as we get a licence?” said Hugh Bladon, a spokesman.