Police warning after 368 South Yorkshire parents break child seatbelt laws

The call from officers comes as figures reveal 368 drivers in South Yorkshire failed to adhere to child seatbelt laws from 2013 to 2015.

Statistics released by the force also includes parents who fail to provide an adequate car seat for children.

Government guidelines say children must be sat in a carseat until they reach 135 centimetres tall or turns 12-years-old. But new legislation comes into play in March this year.

Motorists can be fined up to £500 if a child under 14 isn’t in the correct car seat or wearing a seat belt while a vehicle is in motion.

Chief Inspector Glen Suttenwood said 49 people died on the roads last year and wearing a seatbelt doubles your chance of surviving a crash.

“Wearing a seatbelt is one of the simplest and easiest ways to protect both yourself and others when travelling in a vehicle. “Child seatbelt legislation is in place for a reason, to keep them safe. Anyone who ignores this legislation will be dealt with appropriately and accordingly, as there really is no excuse for putting the safety of a child at risk in your car.”

South Yorkshire Police released two hard-hitting radio adverts in September 2016 highlighting the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt.

Both radio advertisements were deemed so shocking that they had to be toned down for the school run and drive time audiences.

In a survery carried out by confused.com, over a third of parents in South Yorkshire admit to not using a car seat for their child in the past.

Around 62 per cent of parents in the county said they 'do not fully understand' the current booster seat height, age and weight regulations.

Over half of parents said they were unaware that new booster seat regulations are coming into force next year.

Just under 50 per cent of parents in said they were aware of the new car seat rules but four in five were incorrect when describing what they believed the new requirements to be.

To find out more about seatbelt law and the new carseat legislation click here