'Belt up or pay the price'
Date: 12/02/2008 10:19:02
Drivers in Oxfordshire are being advised to belt up or face more than a car insurance claim.
Thames Valley Police will be teaming up with the county council to enforce the wearing of seatbelts after figures showed that about eight in ten of the 152 people killed in traffic accidents in the area last year could have survived had they been wearing seatbelts.
An education evening is being held this week to highlight the dangers of not buckling up, with drivers caught not wearing their seatbelt being given the opportunity to attend or face receiving a ticket.
Julie Jones, Road Safety Officer for Oxfordshire County Council, said: "It is so frustrating that so many people have been seriously injured or died totally unnecessarily. Events such as these are proven to make people change their behaviour through education rather than punishment."
Police Constable Mark Pilling of Thames Valley Police said that while seatbelts save lives, many people seem to be unaware of this.
Earlier this year, the Department for Transport announced that since they were introduced 25 years ago, seatbelts have saved 60,000 lives.