6 March 2013

March is for seatbelts

6 March 2013 | By johnboy

Former Canberra Raiders captain Alan Tongue has joined ACT Policing and Kidsafe in urging Canberrans to click clack front and back.

ACT Policing will be focusing on seatbelts for the month of March as part of its ongoing traffic enforcement campaign.

Every year in Australia more than 20 per cent of all the road fatalities involve a person, including children, not being properly restrained.
Tongue said seat belts saved lives and there was no excuse for not wearing one.

“Seat belts are a proven safety feature. You greatly reduce the chances of being seriously injured or killed in a collision if you’re wearing a seat belt and that belt is properly adjusted,” Tongue said.

“As a parent of three young children I know the importance of ensuring my kids are always properly secured within a vehicle.”

Officer-In-Charge of Traffic Operations, Sergeant Rod Anderson said drivers carried the full responsibility for their passengers wearing seat belts.
“It is an offence to drive while not wearing your seatbelt or to permit passengers of any age to travel in your car without seatbelts,” Sergeant Anderson said.

“It’s also crucial to ensure all children travelling in the vehicle are correctly restrained in a suitable approved child restraint which is properly fastened and adjusted, or occupy a seating position fitted with a suitable seatbelt and wear the seatbelt properly adjusted and fastened, even for short trips.”
ACT Policing statistics show that 709 individuals were given a traffic infringement notice (TIN) for driving without a seatbelt in 2012 (up 147 on 2011).

So far in 2013 there has been 58 TINs issued for individuals driving without a seatbelt in the ACT.

The fine for not having a seat belt properly fastened is $303 + 3 demerit points.

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thebrownstreak694:42 pm 07 Mar 13

p1 said :

ToastFliesRED said :

I read a sign on Parkes Way today indicating no parking will be tolerated on that Road due to festivities (fair enough, not that there are legal parking spots on Parkes Way itself as far as I know but its good to be clear). Then the sign flicks to the next screen which states “All road rules will be enforced”.

So does that mean that there are times when certain or all road rules arent enforced? Like if they are doing a blitz on seat belts (in cars of a young enough age to have always been fitted with them) then do they not care about speeding or whatever? Reminds me of those signs in surrounding rural NSW “Police now targetting XXX”, great so that means they wont mind YYY.

There are quite common signs around which say something like – “No lines marked. Do not overtake unless safe”.

There is a strong unspoken implication there that the presence of lines means you don’t have to consider safety while overtaking.

Which, coincidentally, is quite common on that road.

devils_advocate4:38 pm 07 Mar 13

p1 said :

ToastFliesRED said :

I read a sign on Parkes Way today indicating no parking will be tolerated on that Road due to festivities (fair enough, not that there are legal parking spots on Parkes Way itself as far as I know but its good to be clear). Then the sign flicks to the next screen which states “All road rules will be enforced”.

So does that mean that there are times when certain or all road rules arent enforced? Like if they are doing a blitz on seat belts (in cars of a young enough age to have always been fitted with them) then do they not care about speeding or whatever? Reminds me of those signs in surrounding rural NSW “Police now targetting XXX”, great so that means they wont mind YYY.

There are quite common signs around which say something like – “No lines marked. Do not overtake unless safe”.

There is a strong unspoken implication there that the presence of lines means you don’t have to consider safety while overtaking.

If A implies B, it doesn’t mean that Not A implies Not B (but it does mean that Not B implies Not A).

So there is no implication, strong or otherwise.

p12:47 pm 07 Mar 13

ToastFliesRED said :

I read a sign on Parkes Way today indicating no parking will be tolerated on that Road due to festivities (fair enough, not that there are legal parking spots on Parkes Way itself as far as I know but its good to be clear). Then the sign flicks to the next screen which states “All road rules will be enforced”.

So does that mean that there are times when certain or all road rules arent enforced? Like if they are doing a blitz on seat belts (in cars of a young enough age to have always been fitted with them) then do they not care about speeding or whatever? Reminds me of those signs in surrounding rural NSW “Police now targetting XXX”, great so that means they wont mind YYY.

There are quite common signs around which say something like – “No lines marked. Do not overtake unless safe”.

There is a strong unspoken implication there that the presence of lines means you don’t have to consider safety while overtaking.

p12:44 pm 07 Mar 13

troll-sniffer said :

Spotted on the Kings Highway back in Feb 2004. I wonder if they’ve ever decided to re-run such an honest campaign

[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d89/nojwod/Doughnuts.jpg[/IMG]

He he he, I saw a version of that many years ago, but have never seen a photo of it.

ToastFliesRED2:41 pm 07 Mar 13

I read a sign on Parkes Way today indicating no parking will be tolerated on that Road due to festivities (fair enough, not that there are legal parking spots on Parkes Way itself as far as I know but its good to be clear). Then the sign flicks to the next screen which states “All road rules will be enforced”.

So does that mean that there are times when certain or all road rules arent enforced? Like if they are doing a blitz on seat belts (in cars of a young enough age to have always been fitted with them) then do they not care about speeding or whatever? Reminds me of those signs in surrounding rural NSW “Police now targetting XXX”, great so that means they wont mind YYY.

troll-sniffer1:45 pm 07 Mar 13

Spotted on the Kings Highway back in Feb 2004. I wonder if they’ve ever decided to re-run such an honest campaign

[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d89/nojwod/Doughnuts.jpg[/IMG]

buzz8191:09 pm 07 Mar 13

magiccar9 said :

In all seriousness, am I the only one who thinks the police should be targeting ALL of these issues ALL of the time? I mean, it’s what they’re paid for right?

Well don’t think that for March they are ONLY targeting people without seatbelts, think of it more like shopping at Coles and Woolies, there is always something on special, doesn’t mean that you can’t buy anything else.

The Police are just bringing awareness to an issue that they see relevant to road safety.

G-Fresh10:22 am 07 Mar 13

ffs how is this an issue!

Paul00759:47 am 07 Mar 13

I still can’t believe more than 30 years after the introduction of compulsory use of seat belts, people still don’t get that they need to wear them.

Solidarity3:29 pm 06 Mar 13

p1 said :

Solidarity said :

Jivrashia said :

Solidarity said :

seatbelts are not required if the car was never fitted with them

Next time you state a lesser known fact would you paste in sauce as well?

An exemption from this requirement (seatbelt) currently applies for passengers in older vehicles (eg veteran, vintage and historic vehicles) where the Australian Design Rules do not require seatbelts to be fitted to a seating position.
Reference: http://www.rego.act.gov.au/licensing/roadrules.htm

Nope.

By Nope do you mean you refuse to provide sauce, or are you changing your statement and claiming seatbelts are required?