Why won't men belt up?

THE young girl with long blonde hair had gone through the windscreen.

She sat in deep shock, her pretty face a bloody mess, as her unworn seatbelt hung limply beside her.

I was first to arrive at the scene of a crash between two cars on a leafy South London road one quiet summer evening. In one, the occupants were securely belted and unhurt. In the other car, the driver was okay but his girl passenger had been less fortunate.

Luckily, most people do not have to witness firsthand the horrific consequences of neglecting to wear a seat belt, but perhaps it might be better for them if they did. Rates of seatbelt usage have continued to improve but there is a significant minority - 12 per cent - of car occupants who break the law and put themselves at risk by not bothering to belt up.

According to new research commissioned by the DfT transport department, men are the worst offenders at failing to strap in. Fifteen per cent of men travelling by car neglect to belt up for every journey, compared with Restraint Use by Car Occupants 2000- 2002, an extensive survey carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory for the DfT, shows that 14 per cent of male drivers do not wear seat belts.

Across the country, that means 3.9 million unbelted men at the wheel.

Young motorists are particularly negligent about seatbelt wearing: the research shows that drivers in the 17 to 29 age group are the least likely to strap themselves in.

Why? Kevin Delaney, road safety manager at the RAC Foundation, reckons it's a matter of image: "I think lack of seatbelt usage among young people is higher in this research because it is not seen to be cool to strap in."

A research study into the reasons people give for not bothering to wear seat belts (Taylor Nelson Sofres, 2002) found that absentmindedness and low mileage journeys were the main excuses. The prime reasons given for failing to wear seat belts as a driver or in the front passenger seat were "forgot" (32 per cent) "only a short journey" (15 per cent) and "find seat belts uncomfortable" (13 per cent).

Perhaps surprisingly, the latter excuse was more common among men (19 per cent) than women (4 per cent), despite evidence that women more often complain about uncomfortable belts cutting across their necks or busts.

Older people, the over-60s, are the most conscientious about belting up: only seven per cent were failing to do so in April this year. But they are less diligent about belt wearing as passengers, and are among those most inclined to wear belts incorrectly.

Despite the serial belt refusers, compliance with the seatbelt law is now better than it has been in the past, but road safety experts are concerned about this reckless minority.

Tony Allsworth, who heads the government's Think! road-safety campaign, said: "We have seen a vast improvement in seat belt wearing over the last four years but there are still people who choose not to belt up. But the fact is that seat belts save lives."

It seems that decades after Sir Jimmy Savile's famous "Clunk Click" television commercials, and almost 20 years on from compulsory seatbelt wearing, some drivers still need to be told about the dangers.

Copyright 2002
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