New campaign to monitor the use of seat belts and child restraint systems

All this week, concluding on Sunday, the General Directorate of Traffic launches a new special control campaign focused on monitoring the use of seat belts and child restraint systems on the roads.

Despite the fact that the data shows that the seat belt is the device that has saved the most lives on the road, since its effectiveness halves the risk of death in the event of an accident, even today 1 in 4 deaths in accidents are still not using it. In fact, in 2021 the non-use of seat belts increased by 4% among people killed in cars and vans compared to 2019 (from 22% to 26%).

In the following link you can see how there are still people who do not use the seat belt and only fasten it when they are seen.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_AOc2dgThNEzVgMiobcMvzbAbERl_afG?usp=sharing

For this reason, the recently released Traffic and Road Safety Law has raised the points that are lost for not wearing it to 4, as happens if the appropriate child restraint system is not used or is not done in the correct way.

With the fundamental objective that all the occupants of the vehicles, adults or minors, make use of the seat belt or the appropriate SRI, the agents of the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil and those of the regional and local police forces that join the campaign will increase the vigilance of these security devices on all types of roads.

Surveillance of its use from the air will also be intensified, with the helicopters available to the DGT, as well as with the automated control that is carried out through the 216 cameras that are installed both on conventional roads and on roads high occupancy.

The campaign in turn joins the one organized by ROADPOL (European Road Surveillance Network) which, within the European Union, wants to influence the basic importance of these retention systems.

THE SEAT BELT AS LIFE INSURANCE

The seat belt is a basic and fundamental element of road safety that reduces the risk of death in the event of an accident by half. In addition, it is key to the proper functioning of the airbag, since it is not effective if it is not worn, since both are designed to work in a complementary way.

Of course, the seat belt must be homologated, well anchored, correctly adjusted and properly fastened.

CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS

For children, the use of child restraint systems is even more important as data shows that nine out of ten serious or fatal child injuries would have been prevented if mandatory restraints had been used and that, in the event of an accident, injuries are reduced by up to 75% with proper use of them.

In Spain it is mandatory that minors with a height equal to or less than 135 cm correctly use the child restraint system appropriate to their size and weight, being recommended up to 150 cm.

Minors must be seated in the rear seats, except when the vehicle does not have them, they are already occupied by other minors or it is not possible to install all the child restraint systems in them.