New survey reveals many Europeans still don’t take seatbelt laws seriously

A new survey on seat belt use in Europe has revealed large numbers are still failing to belt up, despite the risks.

The pan-European survey,  sponsored by Ford and published earlier this month, found that 1 in 3 admit to not wearing a seat belt in rear seats. One in four drivers also said they did not insist on rear seat passengers belting up.

The survey of people in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain, and the UK also showed that those in Romania were the most likely to travel in the rear without a seatbelt (84 per cent), then Italy (56 per cent), and Spain (39 per cent).

An ETSC report published last month cited official data from several countries showing that up to 60% of those killed in motorway collisions were not wearing a seatbelt and called on the EU to require the mandatory installation of intelligent seat belt reminder systems (SBR) for all passenger seats in new cars.

Currently only driver seats are required to be fitted with an seat belt reminder.

The EU is currently undertaking a review of the safety requirements that all new vehicles sold in Europe must comply with. Research carried out for the Commission and published earlier this month found that passenger seatbelt reminders are a strong candidate for legislation and the benefits would outweigh the costs.