Make Sure Your Rear Seat Car Passengers Wear A Seatbelt

In 1983 it became compulsory for car drivers and front seat car passengers in the UK to wear a seatbelt. With immediate effect 94% of all car drivers and front passengers complied with the new law and wore a seatbelt. As a consequence over 50,000 lives have been saved. Regrettable however this still means around 370 people a year are killed in road accidents because they failed to comply with the law.

When in 1991 the law was extended to include rear seat passengers the compliance rate wasn't nearly as high. Even today it is thought a third of adults don't wear a seatbelt when traveling in the back of a car.

When in 1991 the law was extended to include rear seat passengers the compliance rate wasn't nearly as high. Even today it is thought a third of adults don't wear a seatbelt when traveling in the back of a car.

Technically if you are a passenger in the back of a car and over the age of 14 then it is your own responsibility to ensure you wear a seatbelt. Why so few actually choose to wear a seatbelt is not known even though the dangers of not doing so are just as great as not wearing a front seat seatbelt. Of course the most common reason given is that the passenger simply forgot to belt-up.

The compliance rate is particularly low with teenagers. One school of thought is that teenagers think wearing a seatbelt in the back of a car simply isn't cool. Or that on a short journey there isn't any need to do so.

Even though it is the over 14's own responsibility to make sure they wear a seatbelt whilst traveling in the back if they choose not to then it can be the driver or other front passenger who suffer. In a crash at 30mph, if unrestrained, a person traveling in the back of the car will be thrown forward with a force of between 30 and 60 times their own body weight. This force crashing into a driver or front seat passenger is enough to kill. So any driver who allows a passenger to travel in the back of their car without wearing a seatbelt is putting themselves at risk. It may be the over fourteens choice not to wear a seatbelt in the back but as driver it is your choice weather you drive or not. If they don't belt-up, you don't drive.

For more driving advice see the driving test and driving schools website. A site for learner drivers providing guides on topics such as the driving theory test and cheap young drivers car insurance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_M_Jenkins

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Posted by mbuhlah, Thursday, March 20, 2008 4:10 AM

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