RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

July 28, 1998
NEW SEATBELT CHECKS WELCOMED

New checks on seatbelts, which come into force on August 1, were welcomed by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents today as a vital step in the battle to reduce deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads.

Last year all 50 MOT testing stations chosen at random by the Society for a national seatbelt survey passed a damaged car belt - and most failed to spot other seatbelt faults.

From August 1 this year, the condition of all seatbelts will be checked at MOT. Checks are also being introduced on seatbelts for minibuses, buses and coaches and on the quality of seatbelt installations in them.

RoSPA Road Safety Adviser, Dave Rogers, said: "The survey we carried out last year revealed appalling problems with the existing system.

"There seemed to be particular confusion about which belts had to be checked in the rear seats of cars. These new measures mean that all belts will now be checked and that potentially dangerous installations in old minibuses and coaches should be a thing of the past. We hope that the standard of inspections will improve at the same time."

RoSPA still wanted the Government to set a date when it would become compulsory for children on organised trips in minibuses and coaches to wear seatbelts, he said. There was little point in having them if they did not have to be worn.

"We cannot compromise on seatbelt safety when it is known that, in a 30mph crash, people in a car are thrown forward with a force of 3.5 tonne, equal to the weight of an elephant," Dave Rogers added.

"Seatbelts have saved thousands of lives and tens of thousands of serious injuries, but if they are damaged or not working correctly their effectiveness could be drastically reduced. Lives may be lost when they could be saved."

The RoSPA survey, published in November, was carried out with advice from seatbelt manufacturers, Securon (Amersham) Ltd.