Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Qlders not getting message on seat belts
Safety campaigns haven’t convinced some Queensland drivers that seat belts save lives, with one in four road deaths involving people who weren’t strapped in.
August 30, 2018
One in four people killed on Queensland’s roads weren’t wearing seatbelts, new data shows.
The transport department survey of 3090 people also found five per cent don’t bother wearing seatbelts on most of their journeys.
And eight per cent don’t bother wearing seatbelts on one in every 10 trips they make.
Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey says after decades of seatbelt safety messaging, the statistics are almost unbelievable.
“The message has reached most of us with about 92 per cent of Queensland drivers wearing seatbelts,” he said on Thursday.
“But it’s the remaining eight per cent who are putting themselves at significant risk.”
He said people are still failing or forget to make the life-saving choice to buckle up.
Male drivers were found to be twice as likely as women not to use seat belts, with men aged 25 to 39 the most likely to offend.
However, over the past five years, more than half of all people killed in vehicles without seat belts on were 29 or younger.
Forgetfulness, low awareness of the risks and deliberate risk-taking were some of the reasons cited in research released on Thursday.
“While the problem is Queensland wide, it is more prevalent in regional Queensland,” Mr Bailey said.
He said wearing a seatbelt reduces your risk of a fatal or serious injury by 50 per cent in a crash.