Young people worst at belting up, says report
People in their teens and 20s are worst at wearing seatbelts when travelling as passengers in the back seat of cars in the North, it was revealed today.
A quarter of those aged between 14 and 29 don’t put on as seatbelt in the back of a car, according to the results of a major survey commissioned by the Department of Environment in the UK.
However the 75% seatbelt wearing rate was the highest recorded for the age-group since the series of studies began in 1994 and was a full 7% up on a year earlier.
The details were released on the day of the funerals of the second two of the four youngsters who died in a horror crash in Co Fermanagh when the car they were crammed into the rear of crashed into a tree.
The study also discovered that 15% of the 5-13 age group still travelled unrestrained in the back of cars.
The highest level of restraint was of babies and children under four – 96%.
Overall, the study reported an increase in belting-up by both front and back seat passengers, with the rate for drivers remaining the same.
It recorded that 93% of drivers and front seat passengers were wearing a seatbelt, the passenger figure up 1% on the previous year.
In the back of cars the overall figure for belting-up was 85% – up 4% on the year.
The influence of a driver not wearing a seatbelt was considerable. In those vehicles where the driver was unrestrained front seat wearing rate dropped to 58% and rear seat passengers to 57%, said the DoE.
Overall females were slightly better at wearing a belt than males – 95% against 92%.
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