Time to buckle up: Millions of car drivers and passengers STILL don't wear seatbelts 30 years after 'clunk-click' law was launched

  • Institute of Advanced Motorists: 5% of 37m motorists flout seatbelt law
  • Also ignored by 4% of front seat passengers & 11% of those in rear seat
  • Thirtieth anniversary of 31/1/1983 'clunk-click' law being marked today

Millions of car drivers and passengers are still failing to wear seatbelts - 30 years to the day  after it became compulsory to buckle up, road safety experts warned today.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists says five per cent of Britain’s 37 million motorists flout the ‘clunk-click’ law introduced on January 31, 1983.

Four per cent of front seat passengers also ignore the regulation along with 11 per cent of rear seat occupants.

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Adverts: The catchy road safety message of 'Clunk-Click' was rammed home to a generation of drivers

Adverts: The catchy road safety message of 'Clunk-Click' was rammed home to a generation of drivers

Days gone by: Car manufacturers have had to install seatbelts since 1965 but the law requiring drivers to wear them did not come in to force for another 18 years

Days gone by: Car manufacturers have had to install seatbelts since 1965 but the law requiring drivers to wear them did not come in to force for another 18 years

The results come as three decades of compulsory seatbelt use are being marked today.

A series of TV adverts by the now disgraced pop DJ Jimmy Savile was used to popularise the catchy road safety message of ‘Clunk-Click every trip’ to a generation of drivers.

Car manufacturers have had to install seatbelts since 1965 but the law requiring drivers to wear them did not come in to force for another 18 years. 

In 1991 the law changed again making it a legal requirement for adults to wear seatbelts in the back of cars.

The legislation is credited with saving thousands of lives but IAM chief executive Simon Best says the message has yet to hit home with many drivers – particularly those aged between 17 and 34 who have the lowest compliance rate.

Campaign: Mandatory belt use by children came into force in 1989 and rear seat belt wearing became compulsory in 1991

Campaign: Mandatory belt use by children came into force in 1989 and rear seat belt wearing became compulsory in 1991

More modern: The Government encourages safer driving through its THINK! campaign which seeks to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents

More modern: The Government encourages safer driving through its THINK! campaign which seeks to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents

‘In the past three decades, seatbelts have made a fantastic contribution to road safety success in Britain, helping to save thousands of lives,’ he said.

'Unbelievably, there are still some people who do not use a seatbelt - my message to them is simple: a seatbelt could save your life and not wearing one is just not worth the risk'

Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond

‘Younger drivers know that not wearing a seatbelt is dangerous but they must still be reminded that, no matter where you are sitting in a car, a seatbelt will save your life.’

The IAM says 14 per cent of adults confess that they do not always wear a seatbelt and 19 per cent know someone who doesn’t use one in the front.

Thirty-six per cent of people aged between 16 and 29 know someone who does not do so compared to 11 per cent of those aged 55 or over.

Mandatory belt use by children came into force in 1989 and rear seat belt wearing became compulsory in 1991.

File photo dated 01/03/1976 of Transport Minister Dr John Gilbert adjusts his seat belt
File photo dated 08/12/1981 of Secretary of State for Transport David Howell in London

Clunk click: File photos of former transport minister Dr John Gilbert (left) adjusting his seat belt in 1976 and former secretary of state for transport David Howell (right) doing the same in 1981

The on-the-spot fixed penalty doubled from £30 to £60 in 2009 and the Department for Transport last year considered a further increase to £90.

But official casualty figures attribute a failure to wear a belt as a contributory factor in 220 deaths and serious injuries each year.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: ‘It is astonishing that some people still don’t do something as basic as putting a seatbelt on.

Shocked: Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said he found it unbelievable that there are still some people who do not use a seatbelt

Shocked: Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said he found it unbelievable that there are still some people who do not use a seatbelt

‘We are concerned that there are fewer police out there since the spending cuts and we have not seen as much publicity about the need to wear seatbelts.

‘It is a message that needs to be continually repeated and refreshed.’

Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said: ‘Thousands of lives have been saved and countless injuries prevented over the years because drivers and passengers were wearing seatbelts.

‘The combination of effective enforcement and hard-hitting public awareness campaigns mean that, thirty years on, the vast majority of drivers and passengers buckle up when they get in their cars.

‘But, unbelievably, there are still some people who do not use a seatbelt - my message to them is simple: a seatbelt could save your life and not wearing one is just not worth the risk.’

The Government encourages safer driving through its THINK! campaign which seeks to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by providing high quality, clear road safety advice for everyone who uses the roads.

To celebrate 30 years of seat-belt legislation, the Government is making a selection of historic THINK!  Road safety adverts available online.

  • The Government’s latest seatbelt campaign is available on the THINK! website here

 VIDEO  Advert - You know it makes sense 

 VIDEO  Advert - Clunk Click. Even on the shortest trips 

 VIDEO  Advert - Clunk Click