One child in five does not wear seat belt in Belgium, report

One child in five does not wear seat belt in Belgium, report
© Belga

Many Belgians remain nonchalant when it comes to wearing a seatbelt in the car, according to a new report.

In one family in five, the safety belt of the children is not fastened. Despite the obligation to wear it, 7% of Belgians (1 in 14) still do not wear a seat belt or do not wear it systematically, Newmobility reports.

The figures were revealed by a large-scale mobility survey by AG Insurance and Tourist among 1.514 Belgians.

“It is appalling to see that one in five adults admits not to fasten the children in the car,” says Danny Smagghe, spokesperson for Touring. “This means that there is still work to be done in terms of raising awareness and control.”

Age plays an essential role in whether to wear a seat belt. On average, less than 93% of people under the age of 45 wear a seat belt, except for 18 to 24-year-olds, where only 87% consistently wear it.

Above 55 years of age, on the other hand, almost everyone (97%) wears the safety belt.

There are also striking regional differences between the regions: in West and East Flanders, which score best, the number of seat belt wearers increases to 95%. In the province of Namur, Liège, and Luxembourg this is reduced to 90%.

Wearing a bicycle helmet (50%) or fluorescent clothing (54%) in traffic can also hardly bother half of the Belgians. Six out of ten schoolchildren wear a helmet.

A study by the safety institute, Vias, shows that in 60% of the fatalities in a traffic accident on the highway, the victim did not wear a safety belt.

Research has also shown that an occupant at the front is five times more likely to be fatally injured if the people at the back do not wear seat belts.

Passengers without a seat belt are nothing less than a deadly projectile for the people in the front row in the event of a massive collision. Plus: the relatively large weight of the heads of children, as they’re thrown forward, makes them particularly vulnerable.

The fines for not wearing a safety belt are 110 euros for adults and 165 euros for children.

The Brussels Times


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