More than a quarter of people killed on Irish roads last year were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n
According to analysis by the RSA of provisional Garda statistics from 2021, 27 per cent of drivers and passengers killed in road traffic collisions were not wearing a seat belt.<\/p>\n
Analysis of provisional collision data from 2017 to 2020 shows that 10 per cent of vehicle occupants seriously injured were not wearing a seat belt.<\/p>\n
Separately, new research of drivers\u2019 attitudes and behaviour released by the RSA, found that while 96 per cent of motorists say they always use a seat belt as a driver, 17 per cent say they don\u2019t always wear a seat belt while travelling in the back seat.<\/p>\n
The Road Safety Authority and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na continue to urge drivers and passengers to always wear a seat belt on every journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeat belts are proven life savers and putting one on before starting a journey is second nature for most of us,” said RSA chief executive, Sam Waide.<\/p>\n
“I am concerned that only 83 per cent of rear seat passengers tell us they always use a seat belt. Not being restrained in the back seat of a car means that in the event of a collision, you will be thrown around the vehicle at extremely high force, risking serious injury to both yourself and others in the car.<\/p>\n
“Failing to put on your seat belt doesn\u2019t just increase the likelihood of you being killed or seriously injured, it\u2019s a potential killer behaviour.<\/p>\n
“I would argue that not wearing a seat belt is not just dangerous but selfish too. I would ask drivers to always ensure that they and their passengers are wearing their seatbelt before starting a journey,” he added.<\/p>\n
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na said: \u201cSeatbelts save lives. Unfortunately emergency services personnel including Garda\u00ed, continue to arrive at scenes of traffic collisions and witness first-hand the devastating injuries sustained by drivers and passengers because they were not wearing a seatbelt.<\/p>\n
“Last year Garda\u00ed issued 7,248 Fixed charge penalty notices for seat belt offences. This figure shows that a high number of people continue to take unnecessary risks on our roads, are not listening to advice or changing their behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assistant Commissioner Hilman added that every occupant in a vehicle is required by law to wear a seat belt and the responsibility lies with the driver to ensure that all people under the age of 17 wear a seatbelt or have a proper child restraint.<\/p>\n
If a driver is detected not wearing a seatbelt, they risk three penalty points and a fine of \u20ac60.<\/p>\n
Passengers over 17 may be fined \u20ac60 for not wearing a seatbelt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than a quarter of people killed on Irish roads last year were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":31845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[654,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n