The law requires people to keep their seat belts in good condition. As seatbelts immensely reduce the chances of death and injury the law mentions that for you and the safety of your passengers, you must make them wear a seat belt. People above 14 years of age have the responsibility of tightening own their seat belts while you must tighten the seat belt for people under the age group of 3- 14. You can put restrictions on people below 3 years of age.
Various engineering companies in the country made advancements in their technology and now the vehicles give a reminder to the people who do not wear a seatbelt while being in a car. Some vehicles also have the feature that it will provide when people who are sitting at the back do not wear seatbelts.
But many companies do not have this technology and are still adopting the latest features. So, the agency is making a law that vehicles should have reminders for wearing seatbelts till the time every passenger wears the seatbelt.
Law Require You to Keep in Good Condition
People after realizing the efficiency of seatbelts also support the idea of having reminders every time a person does not wear seatbelts as the children who do not wear seatbelts will wear them after regular reminders. There are another feature named Interlocks which will automatically limit the speed of the vehicle if the driver is not wearing seatbelts. This feature mainly focuses on the drivers,
Importance of seatbelts
People underestimate the importance of seatbelts and give equal importance to gears and door locks but the law mainly asks people to keep the seatbelt in good condition.
In recent years, the importance of wearing seatbelts is increasing as with the use of seatbelts, the number of people getting badly injured or dead is immensely decreasing. According to reports, when accidents occur most of the people who do not wear seatbelts suffer from serious injury or even die. Drivers should necessarily wear seatbelts as drivers who do not wear seatbelts become riskier drivers.
According to the statistics, most women wear seatbelts but males and people of young age do not wear seatbelts while travelling. So the law mainly needs to focus on increasing awareness among them as attributes such as age or gender do not matter while wearing seatbelts.
For safety purposes, wearing a seatbelt is necessary but wearing a seatbelt that fits well is more important. People especially children use belt-positioning boosters that make the belt fit well.
The law describes the well-fitted seatbelt as one that fits around the chest and the shoulder properly and does not fall off the shoulder and should be on the shoulder not on the neck. It should also cover the hips and lower thighs and should not wrap your belly around.
People say that they forget to wear seatbelts or they have to travel for small distances or they feel discomfort while wearing seatbelts and driving. These are the main explanations people give when they are charged for not wearing seatbelts.
The law in the UK has given powers to the police officials to charge people if they are not wearing seatbelts and also there is a mandatory law in the UK that people needed to follow. The law states that people should have a driving license that is made according to the rules and laws of the country and the international driving licence will not be valid in the country and it will be a criminal offence to drive having that license only.
According to the data of previous years, there are cases that prove that drivers especially at night do not wear seatbelts and also they violate traffic rules more than the people who travel in the daytime. People for their comfort also do not wear seatbelts at night. Although there have criminal arrests of some of these people, the law needs to give more strict punishments to such people as wearing seatbelts, especially at night can reduce accidents leading to a reduction in fatal injuries among people.
Exemption from wearing seat belts
People who do not want to wear a seat belt can do so by having a certificate. To get the certificate, they need to qualify for the medical examination and should have the required documents with themselves. After the verification, they will get a certificate that will exempt them to wear the compulsory seat belt.
Certain people have an exemption for not wearing a seat belt. These people include drivers who are reversing, a trainer who is supervising a learner driver reversing, drivers who have a license, driver of a goods vehicle who is driving under 50 metres for making deliveries. All these people do not need to wear a seatbelt while driving.
The law also mentions that the people who drive should keep all the necessary documents such as the driving license, vehicle documents in good condition and they should also maintain the proper eyesight rules. People who are learning to drive should have a supervisor with themselves and they should display L on their plates.
Your vehicle should also be in a good condition as it is necessary for your safety as well as for road safety. Your vehicle should have registration with the authorized agency, should regularly pay the road tax, and should have an MOT certificate and third party insurance. These requisites will ensure that your vehicle is in a good condition.
Insurance is also a necessary document that the UK law focuses on and considers driving without an insurance policy a criminal offence. But the owner can have insurance according to their choice and need. They can have comprehensive car insurance that covers the vehicle fully, or they can have the third party, fire and theft insurance or they can just have third party insurance.
So, the law in the UK requires its citizen to keep their seatbelts in good condition as it is an important prerequisite for the safety of the passengers as well as of the driver.
