Data from the Department for Transport reported that 30% of people who died in vehicles in 2021 were not wearing a seat belt – the highest percentage since modern records began. This equates to over 200 deaths a year, with many more serious injuries occurring.
Wearing a seat belt has been a legal requirement for over 40 years and is one of the most simple but effective safety measures. Wearing a seat belt halves the chances of the driver dying in a collision and remains the foundation of vehicle occupant safety. Failure to wear a seat belt incurs no penalty points – unlike the other Fatal Four safety offences (speeding, mobile phone use, drink and drug driving).
Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) are calling on the government to increase seat belt wearing rates. David Davies, PACTS Executive Director said “There is a new generation of cameras that detect seat belt offences. Penalty points are urgently needed to back them up.”
PACTS has published a briefing which sets out the facts and solutions to increase the seat belt wearing rates in the UK and save preventable loss of life on our roads. PACTS has recommended a package of actions, including:
✅more use of cameras
✅more effective seat belt reminders
✅better driver education
✅increased penalties
✅increased roads policing
We hope the government will act upon this by increasing penalties and policing. But we can act now to implement cameras, reminders and driver education. The full report can be accessed here.
NATIONAL HIGHWAYS REPORT
A recent pilot project by National Highways collected data on illegal mobile phone use and the number of drivers and passengers failing to wear seat belts along a short section of roadworks on the M6. They recorded more than 750 offences averaging at one every 90 seconds. Jamie Hassall, National Highways manager for this project commented, “The findings are disappointing to say the least with drivers spotted using mobile phones and lots of drivers and passengers simply not bothering to belt up. Hopefully, these results will be a wake-up call to motorway users.”
LEVERAGING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
As pioneers of fleet safety technology, we’ve dedicated the last 10 years to developing solutions to assist drivers and fleet operators.
SAFETYMAX – SEAT BELT DETECTION TECHNOLOGY
Safetymax, our exclusive range, uses cutting-edge technology to communicate critical alerts to drivers with timely warnings for them to act. It’s completely customisable so you can tailor the audible and visual warnings to your fleet. When a driver risk is detected, for example – seat belt not fastened – the driver will be prompted with an alert to action. Once it’s been resolved the screen will return to its normal display state and the driver can continue with their journey.
Find out more about Motormax’s Fleet AI powered safety solutions and our pioneering Safetymax system to discover how they can improve the safety of your fleet.
ADDITIONAL SAFETYMAX WARNINGS
DRIVE SAFETY MONITOR
Our latest solution, Driver Safety Monitor (DSM) draws on the power of AI to monitor driver behaviour and flag any risks to safety – including a seat belt not being engaged. Advances in fleet AI technology means that operators can take a proactive approach to improving overall fleet safety by implementing these systems.
DSMs also detect driver fatigue and other signs of distraction, such as smoking or mobile phone use. If a high-risk behaviour is detected, warnings are communicated via the monitor.
DSM AT A GLANCE
- Detects seat belt not engaged, driver fatigue, smoking, distraction, using a mobile phone
- AI powered solution sends timely alerts to drivers
- Real-time events are sent to fleet operators
- Download event data to generate driver training programmes
- Plug straight into DVR – no extra box required
- Can be installed onto dashboard or A Pillar
- Link with Safetymax for spoken voice audio
To find out mor visit Motormax website – www.motormax.co.uk
