Penalty points for no seatbelt
Drivers and passengers facing hikes in fines, too
DRIVERS who fail to wear a seatbelt could be given three penalty points and an increased fine under new plans being considered by the Government as part of a wide-ranging review into road safety. Passengers who fail to belt up could also face tougher penalties.
At the moment, motorists caught not wearing a seatbelt are typically given a £100 fixed-penalty notice, although this can be increased to £500 if the case goes to court. Drivers are responsible for ensuring that any passengers in the car aged 14 or under are belted in, but anyone who is over that age faces a fine if they haven’t done so.
It’s not known how over-14s will be dealt with if the stricter penalties come in. However, teenagers in Northern Ireland are issued with pre-emptive penalty points on their future licences if they don’t belt up, and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) recommends that the rest of the UK adopts the same rules.
Authorities are concerned that 27 per cent of the 787 people killed in fatal car accidents in 2017 were not wearing a belt. That’s up from 21 per cent in 2014.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling highlighted that the UK has some of the safest roads in the world, but said the government was “not complacent”. Road safety minister Michael Ellis added that wearing a belt was “one of the simplest ways” of protecting motorists.
The plan to issue points to unbelted occupants comes from the same review of road safety that could also see graduated licences introduced for new drivers (see Page 20). The joint review is the first of its kind, and will see the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office, Highways England and the Department for Transport work together to tackle road-safety issues.