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All Wales seatbelt campaign
Published: 07/03/2016
The All Wales Seatbelt Campaign starts on 7 March 2016 and 天涯社区 County
Council is again supporting and raising awareness of the penalties and
consequences of not wearing a seatbelt or failing to use a suitable child car
seat.
Not wearing a seatbelt is illegal and can be fatal even on short, familiar
journeys and at low speeds. As a driver, you are responsible for ensuring that
passengers under 14 wear a seatbelt or use the correct child restraint for
their height and age. Also, only one person should use each seatbelt 鈥� no
sharing!
The penalty for not wearing a seatbelt is a 拢100 on-the-spot fine. If
prosecuted, the maximum fine is 拢500. It only takes 3 seconds to put on a
seatbelt!
Steve Jones, 天涯社区s Chief Officer for Streetscene and
Transportation, said: 鈥淭he law says that seatbelts must be worn at all times.
The simple fact is that seatbelts save lives, even on the shortest trips and at
the lowest speeds. I urge people to remember the importance of wearing
seatbelts both in the front and back of a vehicle and always use the correct
child safety restraints.鈥�
You must also wear a seatbelt if you鈥檙e a disabled driver or passenger, unless
you don鈥檛 have to for medical reasons. You may need to adapt your vehicle.
Pregnant women must also wear a seatbelt unless your doctor says you don鈥檛 have
to for medical reasons. This applies to both front and back seats and
pregnancy does not in itself automatically provide exemption from the law. To
ensure any sudden impact can be absorbed by the body鈥檚 frame, the safest way
for pregnant women to wear a seatbelt is:
鈥� Place the diagonal strap between the breasts (over the breastbone) with the
strap resting over the shoulder, not the neck.
鈥� Place the lap belt flat on the thighs, fitting comfortably beneath the
enlarged abdomen, and over the pelvis not the bump.
鈥� The belt should be worn as tight as possible.
Pregnant women should not wear lap-only belts as they have been shown to
cause grave injuries to unborn children in the event of sudden deceleration.
The law is very specific about the safety of children travelling in the front
or rear seat of any car, van or goods vehicle. They must use the correct child
car seat until they are either 135 cm in height or 12 years old (which ever
they reach first). After this, they must use an adult seatbelt. There are very
few exceptions.
There are many different types of child car seat available so take your time
when choosing. Visit shops and look around on websites to get a good idea of
what seats are available and which ones are likely to be the most suitable for
your child and your car. For more information visit www.childcarseats.org.uk.