KEY POINTS:
Checkpoints in Rotorua have shown that far too many local drivers and passengers are not buckling up.
In the latest campaign 100 people, either driving or passengers in 250 vehicles stopped, were fined for not wearing safety belts.
A child restraint campaign this year found that 55 out of 163 children were either unrestrained or not properly restrained.
Police have promised they will continue to clamp down on those who fail to buckle up.
It is estimated that if everyone wore their seatbelts, as required by law, 25 lives could be saved every year on New Zealand's roads.
Andrew Knackstedt of Land Transport New Zealand says that there have been good gains with seatbelt-wearing rates over the past few years, but the national average of five per cent who don't wear seatbelts is still too high.
Some sobering facts:
* The risk of serious injury or death in a crash is virtually the same whether you are in the front or back seat of a vehicle.
* Most crashes happen in 50km/h areas, and most often on short trips within a few kilometres of home.
* If a car suddenly stops when travelling at even 50km/h, the human body becomes like a pinball, bouncing off the inside of the vehicle. It can also collide with other people in the car, including those who are wearing seatbelts.
Of the 368 drivers and passengers who died on New Zealand roads last year, 18 would be alive if they had been wearing seatbelts.
Between 2001 and 2003, six pre-school passengers died in crashes because they were not placed in the restraints available in the vehicles.
The fine for not wearing a seatbelt or allowing a person under 15 to travel unrestrained is $150 for each seatbelt not worn.
The driver is responsible for ensuring that anyone under 15 wears a seatbelt or approved child restraint. Those over 15 are responsible for their own safety - and fine.
- DAILY POST
