8 out of 10 teens in East Lancashire 'not belted in' (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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8 out of 10 teens in East Lancashire 'not belted in'
9:31am Thursday 13th August 2009 in News
SAFETY: FIRST: Blackburn with Darwen Casualty Reduction Team manager Claire Waterhouse,who is supporting the Lancashire Telegraph ‘Belt Them In!’ campaign, fastens her son, Michael, five, into his child’s car seat
FRESH survey results today reveal the true extent of the shockingly complacent attitudes towards seatbelts in East Lancashire.
Yesterday the Lancashire Telegraph joined forces with road safety groups to launch Love Your Kids? Belt Them In!
The campaign is urging parents to ensure their children wear seatbelts, and came after a survey of local children in the top year of primary found 53per cent were not belted in.
Today results from a survey of GCSE students in East Lancashire reveal that the problem gets worse as kids get older.
A shocking 79.4per cent of 15 and 16-year-olds do not wear seatbelts.
The findings underline the urgent need to get the message across to parents.
Claire Waterhouse, casualty reduction manager for Blackburn with Darwen Casualty Reduction Team, which carried out the survey, said: “We are aware the number is high and we are working to change attitudes, but we were shocked at the high percentage that were not wearing seatbelts.
“This could be to do with peer pressure and bravado.
“With the younger children, our main concern was children in that age range are quite compliant.
"They want to be seen to be law abiding and to do the right thing, and this is why we were so surprised.
“A lot of collisions happen within a mile radius of home.
“We need to get the message across that seatbelts should be worn on every journey, however long or short.”
Love Your Kids? Belt Them In! aims to raise awareness so parents, carers and motorists belt themselves, and any children, in for every car journey.
It will also educate pupils across East Lancashire through schools, promote the law surrounding seatbelts, and help people understand how to choose, and fit, child car and booster seats correctly.
The Lancashire Telegraph joined forces with the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety and the Blackburn with Darwen Casualty Reduction Team for the campaign.
Together we will run educational roadshows, the first of which takes place today, outside Blackburn Town Hall, from 11am to 3pm.
There will be a crash vehicle on the scene, the fire service, police, the casualty reduction team, and the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety.
The campaign will go also into schools and community centres to get the belt-up message across.
The Lancashire Telegraph will also accompany police as officers stage special crackdown days during which they will carry out spot checks on passing vehicles.
Comments(3)
Mike Costa
says...
2:10pm Thu 13 Aug 09
Stupid people, but what do you really expect from a nation of chavs?
AndyW
says...
9:58pm Thu 13 Aug 09
I cannot comprehend how any sane and responsible parent, or person for that matter, can NOT fasten their seatbelt before driving or being driven.
If you have children, they are your absolute priority and their safety is your utmost responsibility - a simple thing like putting their seatbelt on is a no-brainer.
I have worked in a job where I had to scrape the victims up off the floor and saw the aftermath and grief first hand. Maybe seeing scenes like this would hammer it home to the braindead, who somehow think that any good can come from not ensuring their childrens' safety.
Put simply - seatbelts save lives. If you don't care then don't put yours on; you'll feel the effects when you crash and won't make the same mistake again, trust me.
However, if you have children, use some common sense and look after them.
If you don't, you don't deserve children.
burner says...
10:07am Thu 13 Aug 09