Friday, June 17, 2011
Belt up!
Some young drivers might be shocked to hear that as many as one in every 20 drivers in the UK does not wear a seatbelt behind the wheel.
The research, undertaken in an AA Streetwatch Survey using data collected in April and May of this year, also reported that one in every ten cars approaching junctions seemed to be travelling too fast and almost one quarter of vehicles observed had broken brake-lights. You might be concerned that these motorists are on the roads with you, but there’s apparently even more to be worried about.
Some drivers, despite the large amount of adverts and general warnings against it, were seen using hand-held mobile phones, and one third of motorists didn’t bother indicating at junctions or roundabouts.
Despite the very real risk of serious injury or death, and fines for people caught driving without belts on, the president of the AA stated, "In previous surveys that we've done, excuses came up - atrocious things like, 'Well, actually I might crease my shirt or my blouse; I'm only going down the road.’”
As the UK road safety minister said, "Those excuses just aren't good enough because even if you're pulling out of your driveway you can hit a van, hit another vehicle, and the consequences without wearing a seatbelt are actually quite dire.
"My message to [the drivers who don’t wear seatbelts] is simple - seatbelts save lives and not wearing one just isn't worth the risk"
Image by Criterion via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: AA, junctions, motorists, road safety, roundabouts, seatbelt, young driver
#
posted by Fuse @ 4:30 AM 
Post a Comment