It doesn’t matter if you are only travelling a short distance – most road crashes occur close to home and even at low speed not wearing a seat belt can cause serious injury and death.
FACT: A crash at 40km/h is like falling onto concrete from a two-storey building
Wearing a seat belt is one of the easiest ways of protecting both drivers and passengers when travelling in a vehicle.
Seat belts protect vehicle occupants by decreasing the time it takes them to come to a stop in a crash, spreads the impact force over a greater area of the body, minimise contact with the interior of the vehicle and helps stop them from being ejected from the vehicle.
FACT: Every year around 38 people are killed in road crashes in WA while they were not wearing a seat belt.
Motor vehicle drivers and passengers must sit in a seat that has a seat belt available and they must have the seat belt fastened and worn correctly. Passengers are not allowed to travel in the back of trucks, utes or panel vans, unless there are approved seat belts provided.
Drivers are responsible for making sure all passengers are restrained regardless of age.
The Seat Belt Laws
Only passengers that are sitting in a seat that is fitted with a seat belt or child restraint fastened properly can be carried in the vehicle. No additional unrestrained passengers are permitted and passengers cannot share the same seat.
FACT: You are 10 times more likely to be killed in a road crash if you’re not wearing a seat belt in a car.
A full list of penalties can be viewed on the Road Safety Commission Website.
Source: rsc.wa.gov.au
