HAMPSHIRE and Thames Valley Police are supporting a national seatbelt campaign.

Earlier this month, officers from the joint roads policing unit stopped vehicles where drivers and passengers are not wearing their seatbelt as part of their work carried out by the European traffic police network.

The law states drivers are responsible for ensuring that suitable safety restraints are worn by all passengers under 14 years of age.

The penalty for being caught not wearing a seatbelt is an on-the-spot £100 fine or, if prosecuted, up to £500.

They also highlighted seatbelt awareness and informing drivers of the risks associated with not wearing one during a week of enforcement, to encourage drivers to comply with the seatbelt legislation to save lives and prevent injuries.

Failure to wear a seatbelt has been identified as one of the four key causation factors influencing the number of fatalities in road accidents.

In the five counties policed by the two forces, eight per cent of all fatal casualties involved not wearing a seatbelt.

Sergeant Rob Heard, from the joint roads policing unit for Hampshire and Thames Valley Police, said: “The vast majority of people are wearing their seatbelts.

“Unfortunately, we are still finding people who decide to take the risk and travel in a vehicle without wearing a seatbelt.

“You are twice as likely to die in a collision if you are not wearing a seatbelt, and in the event of an accident if unrestrained you will hit the windscreen, or the front seat in the case of a rear seat passenger, at a force of 30 to 60 times your own body weight.

“Unfortunately, some people are becoming complacent and feel a collision will never happen to them.

“People sometimes feel ‘I am only driving locally and at a low speed so I will be okay’.

“However, research has shown that many collisions occur at low speed and within in few miles of home.

“I would always recommend to people to wear a seatbelt every time you travel in a vehicle. It’s just not worth the risk.”

This operation follows on from the success of the previous seatbelt campaign ran nationally in September 2017 where 2,422 penalties were issued.

During the campaign, 2,472 vehicles were stopped.

•Ninety-six per cent of offences were detected in the front of the vehicle with four per cent in the rear

•Eighty-two per cent of offenders were male

•Ninety-eight per cent of offenders were adults

•Two per cent of offenders were children (not in a child booster seat or in an incorrect sized one

•Eight-out-of-10 of the offences were committed in cars

•Ninety-eight per cent of penalties were given during this operation with two per cent given verbal warnings.

The police will also be working with other organisations checking child seats to make sure they are fitted and being used correctly.

Two-in-every-three car seats across the UK were found to be incorrectly fitted. If in doubt, get your child seats checked by an approved fitter, added Sgt Heard.

Did you know?

•You’re twice as likely to die in a crash if you don’t wear a seatbelt

•Drivers and passengers aged 17-34 have the lowest seatbelt-wearing rates combined with the highest accident rate

•People are less likely to use seatbelts on short or familiar journeys puting them at serious risk of injury in a crash

•The proportion of car drivers observed wearing seatbelts is around 95 per cent.