The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, PACTS, has released a new report into seat belt use by British drivers, in the face of figures showing the proportion of car occupants who die while not wearing a seat belt has been rising. 

PACTS is calling on the Government to take clear, practical steps: introduce penalty points for not wearing a seat belt, roll out camera-based enforcement, strengthen roads policing, and refresh public education to reflect today’s challenges. “With action now, we can reverse the rise in unbelted deaths and injuries,” the report states.

It says that in 2023, 25% of car occupants who died in collisions in Great Britain, where seat belt status was known, were not wearing one. Non-wearing is especially common at night (particularly between 10pm and 4am), on weekends, and among male drivers aged 35 to 44. Rear seat passengers also remain consistently less likely to wear a seat belt than those in the front. 

The report notes that: “There is no cross-generational road safety memory. Hundreds of thousands of vehicle journeys take place across the UK every day with at least one occupant not properly restrained. Not wearing a seat belt is often not a one-off oversight, but a repeated and habitual behaviour.”

Regarding camera-based enforcement, the report quotes UK General Manager of Acusensus, Geoff Collins, as saying: “The toll associated with unbelted journeys on UK roads is alarmingly clear. It is a persistent, preventable risk with profound human and societal costs. We must make every effort to change poor driving behaviours, which will prevent suffering and save lives.” Acusensus has developed technology which automatically identifies those who appear not to be wearing a seatbelt, and these cameras have been shown to change behaviour.

You can read the full PACTS report here.

(Picture – Yay Images)