Drivers' seatbelt use 'up from 2008'

Date: 4/2/2010

The number of car drivers wearing seatbelts increased slightly last year from 2008 levels, estimated rates released by the Department for Transport (DfT) have revealed.

The proportion of drivers observed wearing a seatbelt rose by one percentage point from 95 to 96 per cent in 2009, and the number of passengers travelling in rear seats using seatbelts increased to nine in ten, up from 88 per cent in 2008.

However, the proportion of front seat passengers observed wearing seatbelts fell slightly from 96 per cent in 2008 to 95 per cent last year.

The figures were compiled by observation staff at 32 light-controlled road sites in Nottingham and Crowthorne. Staff observed the use of seatbelts and child-restraint use by drivers during daylight hours.

A TRL survey carried out in a similar way on the use of mobile phones showed the proportion of drivers using hand-held phones at the wheel had increased, from 1.1 per cent to 1.4 per cent last year for car drivers.

Van and lorry driver phone usage also went up, from 2.2 per cent to 2.6 per cent in 2009.

The mobile phone survey was carried out by observational staff in the south east of England. They observed driver behaviour at 30 sites and recorded mobile phone use by drivers in free-flowing traffic with the help of a mobile phone detector.