Drivers face heavier fines for not wearing seat belt

DRIVERS and passengers who refuse to belt up now face a heavier fine.

Anyone caught not wearing a seat belt will now be hit with a £60 fixed penalty – double the previous £30.

Drivers will also be fined if they allow a child aged 13 or younger not to wear a seat belt.

But passengers aged 14 and over are legally responsible for themselves and will have to pay the new £60 fine.

Motorists with illegal number plates will also now be liable for the new £60 fine.

Between April 2008 and March this year, 2,863 people were issued with £30 fixed penalty tickets for not wearing a seat belt in Staffordshire. In Cheshire, 4,288 people were caught not wearing a seat belt last year, and 4,248 in 2007.

Les Dyble, Staffordshire Police's traffic management officer, said: "The increase in fines will certainly help stop people committing these offences, but people shouldn't be thinking about the fines. The reason they should be putting on their seat belts is to save their life."

But Peter Roberts, of the Driver's' Alliance, is sceptical that the fine will reduce the falling casualty rate on Staffordshire's roads further. He said: "If you are driving without a seat belt then you deserve to be fined.

"While I'm happy for the police to fine people for not wearing a seat belt, I don't think it should be financially rewarding for the police."