A ROAD SAFETY expert in Donegal has said he’s hugely concerned after it emerged drivers in the county are using extra seatbelt fasteners so they can drive without a belt and prevent their vehicle’s warning system from going off.
Some drivers are also sitting on their belts instead of using them properly, according to the Road Safety Officer with Donegal County Council, Brian O’Donnell.
“Extra clips are being sourced wherever they’re being sourced and put into the unit for a normal seatbelt holder to silence the alarm sound,” O’Donnell told Highland Radio.
He said non-compliance with seatbelt laws had risen in recent years, and that the fad was “totally illegal” and “doesn’t make sense”.
It defies logic how this is happening or why it’s happening.
An analysis of road fatalities for 2015 shows that one in four drivers killed and one in three passengers killed were not wearing their seatbelt at the time of the collision.
Research suggests that two out of every three people will survive a crash if they are wearing a seatbelt.
Launching the pre-Bank Holiday Garda road safety campaign last week, the head of Dublin’s Traffic Corps Aidan Reid said it was “unbelievable” that anyone would not wear their seatbelt.
“The use of a safety belt is, without doubt, the most basic form of road safety,” he added.
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