27% of car occupants may have avoided death if they wore a seat belt

THOUSANDS of drivers up and down the UK are still putting themselves and others at risk from not belting up with over a quarter of fatalities last year not wearing a seat belt.

27% of the 787 car occupants who died were said to not be wearing a seat belt on Britain’s roads in 2017, according to Department for Transport.

And alarming information provided by us here at Prestige Motor Warehouse revealed some cars have crushed front seats – impacted by passengers sitting in the back without a seat belt on.

The 1966 legislation made it compulsory for all new cars to have seat belt fittings – but not everyone is wearing them.

In a 30mph crash, a back seated passenger, if unrestrained, will hit the front seats, and anyone in it, with a force of between 30 and 60 times your own body weight – around 3.5 tons, similar to that of a small elephant.

That’s a hefty impact and around 40 front seat passengers die each year as a result of being hit by a backseat passenger not wearing their seat belt, and with many more seriously injured.

And life changing injuries won’t be any easier as compensation for injury following an accident could be reduced if you were not wearing a seat belt.

You could also end up in court. The penalty for not wearing a rear seat belt is a fixed fine of £100 or a maximum fine of £500 if you end up in front of the magistrate.

Seat belt wearing saves thousands of lives every year - and it takes no more than 3 seconds to put a seat belt on and buckle up whether you are in the front or the back.

There’s no excuse.

Young drivers and passengers are often under the impression that they don't need to wear a seat belt, especially if other people in the car are not wearing theirs.

The law states that drivers and front seat passengers in cars must wear a seat belt, unless they have a medical exemption certificate.

Adults travelling in the rear of a car must also use seat belts and anyone over the age of 14 is legally responsible for their own seat belt, or they will be responsible for their own fine.

And it is the responsibility of the driver to make sure children under 14 years of age are wearing their seat belts or in an appropriate child seat.

So thinking "it won't happen to me" or it makes you look geeky or embarrassing to look safe – think again!