Parents targeted in Welsh seatbelt campaign

Powys Council’s road safety team and DyfedPowys police have been working in partnership to tackle the issue of parents and children not wearing their seatbelts on the school run.

The partners have been carrying out seatbelt checks and giving advice to parents who were not wearing a seatbelt, or whose children were using an incorrect or wrongly fitted child seat.

Officers then returned to the school the following week and were delighted to find that parents seemed to have listened to the advice they were given. Just one parent was subsequently given a fixed penalty notice for not wearing a seatbelt.

Nichola Davies, the council’s road safety officer, said: “The benefits of seatbelts need to be promoted and the perceived reasons for not wearing seatbelts reduced, particularly when it comes to educating children. Adults can set an example by wearing their own seatbelt so that children understand the necessity for them as they grow older.”

PSCO Lee Whiitaker, Dyfed Powys Police, said: “No matter how low the speed at which you are travelling or how short the journey, collisions still happen. By not wearing a seatbelt, vehicle users are putting their own lives at risk as well as that of other passengers in the vehicle.”

The officers plan to return to the school in the near future, and to visit other schools in the area in the coming months.

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