DRIVERS and their passengers travelling through Thame today, were offered the chance to re-think their attitude to seatbelt wearing at a series of roadside checks.
In today’s operation, 71 people were given seat belt tickets, 10 were given tickets for using mobile phones whilst driving and three vehicles were found to have an unsuitable number plate or other minor defect.
Oxfordshire County Councils? Road Safety Team were helping Thames Valley Police to conduct the checks.
Those caught not wearing a seatbelt were given the opportunity to exchange their fixed penalty notice for an evening of seatbelt education on Thursday, September 27, where they will be shown graphic images of collisions where someone died as a result of not wearing a seatbelt.
Sixty eight people were killed and a further 2,887 injured on Oxfordshire?s roads last year. Twenty four of those killed were passengers in a car. More than half of rear car passengers and 1/3rd of drivers and front seat passengers who died were not wearing a seatbelt.
Investigations have revealed that as many as eight out of 10 of those who died as a result of not wearing a seatbelt in the Thames Valley over recent years would have survived if they had only worn their seatbelt.
Julie Jones, Road Safety Officer at Oxfordshire County Council, said, ?We hope some of those who attend the education evening will come away with a change in attitude, reducing the risk that they too may feature in our casualty report in coming years.?
PC Mark Pilling, Road Safety Constable, Thames Valley Police, said: ?It is almost the 24th anniversary of seat belt laws and tens of thousands have been saved from death and injury as a result. If everyone were properly restrained in a vehicle, we would immediately see a dramatic cut the number of people killed and injured.?
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