Unbelieveable

Wearing safety belts in cars

It is hard to comprehend that more than 1,000 motorists are prosecuted each month for not using seat belts, especially as official figures record that 24 people died in traffic accidents this year because they were not wearing them.

What kind of person, what degree of carelessness or scorn must a person have not to wear a simple safety device that costs nothing to use? What kind of parent would allow a child in a car without insisting that they use a safety belt?

Many decades ago when a radio was an optional extra in a car, the regular use of safety belts was not common, but years of effective educational programmes, and statistics that showed they saved lives, have made them a welcome and valuable part of our lives.

Figures showing that almost 20,000 people were prosecuted each month this year for speeding, and 2,800 were prosecuted for using mobile phones while driving, suggest that we have a long way to go before the Road Safety Authority and the Garda Traffic Corps can rest on their laurels and declare our roads to be as safe as they can make them.