“Be Safe and Buckle Up” is the important message the Welsh Emergency Services are driving home to motorists in this year’s All Wales Seatbelt Campaign.
On February 1st, 2011 South Wales Police will team up with the other Welsh Police Forces, the Fire and Ambulance service, local authorities and partner agencies across Wales to launch the All Wales Seatbelt Campaign, warning motorists and passengers that they are risking their lives by not wearing belts and issuing fixed penalty notices to those who choose to flout the law.
This year’s month-long campaign will commence with a two week education and awareness phase, then police officers from across Wales will be targeting motorists who aren’t buckling up for the rest of February with two weeks of enforcement activity.
Drivers, passengers, and pedestrians can expect to see officers out and about on our roads stopping and fining drivers and passengers of all ages not wearing seatbelts.
Motorists and passengers who choose to risk their lives by not taking the simple step of wearing a seatbelt could receive a £60 Fixed Penalty Notice or be summonsed to court where they could face fines of up to £500.
As an alternative to prosecution, motorists and passengers are also given the opportunity to attend a showing of a film on the dangers of not wearing seatbelts.
In 2010, 3,442 people were prosecuted in South Wales alone for not wearing a seatbelt.
Chief Superintendent Cliff Filer, Head of Specialist Operations in South Wales Police said:
“Quite simply, seatbelts are a life-saver. They only take a few seconds to click into place but can be the difference between life and death.
“As motorists and passengers prepare to start their journey they may forget to fix their seatbelt, but it should be the first thing people do when they get in the car.
“The number of fatal road accidents across Wales has reduced from 125 to 88 from 2009 to 2010, and we hope this year’s campaign will go some way in preventing more deaths.
“Fastening your seatbelt is a simple step but it can significantly increase a person’s chances of surviving a collision. That is why we will be reminding people throughout February to be safe and buckle up.”
At the launch on February 1st the South Wales Fire Service will also be giving demonstrations of the importance of wearing a seatbelt using a dummy car.
Group Manger, Neil Brown, Head of Road Safety for the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said:
“Teaming up with our policing colleagues in this campaign is an ideal opportunity for us to emphasise the importance of wearing a seatbelt.
“Firefighters attend road traffic collisions every day, and like our colleagues across the emergency services we see disturbing scenes, some of which may have been prevented.
“We would always encourage the public to wear their seatbelts – seatbelts save lives.”
Every year the police service and partners in Wales run a number of road safety campaigns based around the ‘Fatal 5’ – the five main contributory factors in fatal road traffic collisions. These are:
- drink (alcohol) and drug driving
- driving without a seatbelt
- driving while using a mobile phone
- speeding
- careless and reckless driving
The seatbelt campaign is the first to kick off in 2011, with campaigns raising awareness of the dangers of drink driving, drug driving, mobile phone driving and speeding scheduled later in this year’s calendar.
Susan Storch, Chair of Road Safety Wales added:
“The key message we are trying to get across is that wearing a seatbelt really could mean the difference between life and death – and that applies just as much to passengers as it does to drivers. The majority of people are aware of the risk of not wearing a seatbelt, but there are still some who choose to ignore the dangers.”
“We all have a responsibility to ensure we belt up to protect ourselves and those travelling with us; it’s such a simple act to carry out.”
