Buckle up say Police

Police in Ballymoney will be increasing their focus on enforcing the law around seat belts during February, as part of their road safety commitment.

Breaches of seat belt regulations attract a fixed penalty fine of £60 with three penalty points endorsed on driving licenses. This applies to all drivers who:

· Fail to wear a seat belt;

· Carry an unbelted child aged under 14;

· Carry a Child under 12 years and under 135cms tall without proper restraint;

Inspector John Millar is from PSNI’s Roads Policing Unit: “Seat belts save lives. One death on the road is one too many but already this year there have been eight road deaths across Northern Ireland. The law is clear, if you don’t wear your seat belt, or if you allow your children to go unbelted, your driving licence may be at risk”.

Inspector Millar continued: “Please also remember that all lorry and delivery drivers, unless medically exempt, must wear a seat belt. Delivery drivers are only exempt for door-to-door deliveries but cannot travel more than 50 metres between deliveries without wearing a seat belt”.

He added: ‘The vast majority of responsible motorists always wear a seat belt. But we will be focusing on those who don’t over the next month as part of our road safety commitment.