Are you sitting safely? - 02^nd April 2009

Bedfordshire and Luton’s Casualty Reduction Partnership has today launched the Seatbelt Sergeant campaign, which aims to encourage children to buckle up when travelling in the car.

The initiative, aimed at children aged seven to 11, was launched as part of ‘Belt Up For Life’ to help encourage children and their parents to wear seatbelts, no matter the length of the journey, as there is still a high percentage of people who don’t wear seatbelts. 

The campaign was launched by Gillian Parker, Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police, along with the Bedfordshire County Council Road Risk Advisory Team, who demonstrated the importance of seatbelt safety through a number of activities, including role play with children at Cauldwell Lower School in Bedford.

In this latest campaign, local Police Constables will be visiting schools, along with Road Safety Officers, in order to gather a task force of Seatbelt Sergeants to keep the seatbelt safety message alive.

Although front seatbelt wearing became compulsory in 1983, rear seat belt usage for children became compulsory in 1989 and for adults in 1991. 6% of car drivers still do not belt up, along with 30% of adults and 7% of children in the back of a car. As part of this campaign, the Seatbelt Sergeants will receive a Warrant of Office Certificate and a warrant card.


Councillor Tom Wootton, Bedfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “The importance of using seatbelts is well  known, but significant numbers of car users continue not to use them. Nationally, 290 lives are lost annually through not wearing seat belts.

"We are using education as a means of encouraging children - who are after all the drivers of the future – to use seat belts at all times when travelling in cars and to ask their parents to do the same. The Seatbelt Sergeants are set to make Bedfordshire car drivers more seatbelt safety conscious, which could help save lives."