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Canal Motor / Patxi Fernández
Thursday, 21 March 2024, 14:21
Seat belts and child restraints are among the most effective measures to protect people from injury in the event of road accidents. Yet, although this has been scientifically proven, there are still a significant number of drivers and passengers who do not use a safety belt, or use it incorrectly.
Especially in the case of children's restraints, which are more complex to use than seat belts, there is a high prevalence of incorrect use or use of systems that are not appropriate for the size of the child.
In the case of children, the use of child restraints is even more important as data shows that nine out of ten serious or fatal injuries in children would have been avoided if mandatory child restraints had been used. In the event of an accident, injuries are reduced by up to 75% with proper use of child restraints, data also shows.
In Spain, it is compulsory for children with a height of 135 cm or less to correctly use a child restraint system appropriate to their size and weight, being recommended up to 150 cm.
A total of 139 people killed on inter-urban roads in 2023 were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident - 25% of the total number of fatalities last year.
To promote the safe use of seat belts and child restraint systems, the DGT carried out a special surveillance and control campaign on both urban and inter-urban roads. The campaign finished on Sunday 17 March.
The campaign helped ensure all vehicle occupants, adults or minors, make use of seat belts or the appropriate child restraint system. The Guardia Civil's traffic unit and local police forces joined the campaign which involved increasing vigilance on all types of roads. Surveillance was also increased from the air, as well as road cameras with 245 devices installed on both conventional and high occupancy roads.
The campaign is in addition to other campaigns organised by RoadPol (European Road Policing Network) which, within the European Union, was launched in a bid to promote safe use of vehicle restraint systems.
In order to experience first-hand the effectiveness of seat belts, the Dirección General de Tráfico carried out a presentation of the campaign at the RACE Foundation training centre at the Jarama Circuit, where attendees were able to ride on a rollover simulator with RACE Foundation and RACE Institutional Relations director Ignacio Fernández, and head of research at RACE Foundation David Fernández.
The traffic and road safety law penalises four points off one's licence for not wearing a seat belt. The same points are deducted for not using the appropriate child restraint system or using it incorrectly.
Children should always be seated in the rear seats, unless the vehicle does not have them, they are already occupied by other children or it is not possible to install all child restraint systems in them. It is also recommended they travel rear facing, if possible, up to the age of four years and mandatory up to the age of 15 months.
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