Call for renewed focus on the importance of wearing seatbelts 40 years after legislation?

January 31, 2023, marks the 40th anniversary of a law requiring all drivers and front seat passengers in the UK to wear their seatbelts coming into force. Becky Guy , RoSPA Road Safety Manager, England, examines the route to the historic landmark.

Many thousands of lives have been saved by seatbelts since January 31, 1983, when the UK law requiring all drivers and front seat passengers to wear seatbelts came into force. RoSPA’s then-President, Lord Nugent of Guildford, had introduced an amendment to the Transport Bill, to make seatbelt wearing compulsory where fitted in the front of cars, in the House of Lords in July, 1981. The Bill became law in 1983: before it was introduced, evidence suggested that six out of 10 motorists ignored advice to belt up in the front.

It wasn’t until 1965 that it became compulsory for all cars built in Europe to be fitted with seatbelts.

As early as the 1930s, several American physicians began to equip their own cars with lap belts and started urging manufacturers to provide them in all new cars. In 1956, Volvo began marketing two-point cross-chest diagonal belts as an accessory, and Ford and Chrysler began to offer lap belts in front as an option on some models. A year later, Volvo began to provide anchors for two-point diagonal seatbelts in the front of vehicles, and in 1958, Volvo design engineer Nils Bohlin patented the "Basics of Proper Restraint Systems for Car Occupants," better known as a three-point safety belt.

It wasn’t until 1965 that it became compulsory for all cars built in Europe to be fitted with seatbelts. From 1967, new cars in the UK had to be fitted with front seat belts by law, requiring three-point belts in front outboard positions. A year later, it became mandatory to retrofit three-point belts in front of newer cars.

Despite the compulsory fitting of seatbelts in vehicles, throughout the 1970s Governments continuously tried, and failed, to make it compulsory to wear a seatbelt in vehicles. In 1980, Lord Nugent of Guildford, RoSPA’s President, introduced a Private Members Bill. It gained a majority at the Second Reading but again failed for procedural reasons. A year later, Lord Nugent seized his chance with an amendment to the Transport Bill which introduced seatbelt-wearing for a trial period. Following the trial, both Houses of Parliament voted overwhelmingly to retain the requirement permanently. It was the result of years of campaigning by medical and safety organisations.

The Bill became law in 1983: before it was introduced, evidence suggested that six out of 10 motorists ignored advice to belt up in the front.

The law changed again in 1989, when wearing seatbelts in rear seats became compulsory for children under the age of 14. In 1991, it became compulsory for adults to wear seatbelts in the back of cars, too.

The law changed again in 1989, when wearing seatbelts in rear seats became compulsory for children under the age of 14.

Yet, there is still more to do to ensure that drivers and passengers continue to wear their seatbelt for all journeys in the front and rear of the vehicle. Figures published in 2022 by the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom has prompted RoSPA to call for a renewed focus on the importance of wearing seatbelts. The statistics revealed significant increases in the proportion of people in cars killed on Great Britain’s roads not wearing a seatbelt. The figures showed that in 2021:

• Almost half of car occupants (47 per cent)?killed between 6pm and 8am were not wearing seatbelts
• Four in 10 young car occupants (aged 17 – 29) killed in 2021 were not wearing a seatbelt?
• One fifth of over-60s killed in a car in 2021 were not wearing a seatbelt?
• ?One fifth of children (aged 0-16) were not wearing a seatbelt.?