Norfolk & Suffolk: Seatbelt Fines

3 October 2012, 06:00 | Updated: 3 October 2012, 06:12

Police in Norfolk and Suffolk have issued hundreds of fines to people found not wearing their seat belts.

Nearly 400 people have been caught in Suffolk and Norfolk.

Officers were out for a week in the middle of September as part of a safety campaign, and in Suffolk more than 170 fines were issued, in Norfolk it was 212.

The Suffolk Constabulary roads policing unit conducted checks on motorists and their passengers throughout the county in support of the Europe-wide TISPOL seatbelt enforcement campaign running from Monday 10 September to Sunday 16 September 2012.

The campaign coincided with an operation to crackdown on lorry drivers who break the law with patrols on the A11, A14 and A12 dual carriageway roads in both Norfolk and Suffolk using an unmarked lorry.

During the campaign 177 FPNs were issued in Suffolk in total, equating to 25.3 per day. Of all the FPNs issued 174 were given in relation to adults not wearing a seatbelt and three in relation to a child, with the recipients incurring a minimum of an instant £60 fine.

Sgt Paul Ward of the Casualty Reduction Team said “The targeted operation on lorry drivers being held during the same week as the TISPOL campaign has obviously resulted in a high amount of Fixed Penalty Notices being issued, however the fact remains the same – too many people are putting their lives at risk by not wearing a seatbelt. Last year we saw four fatalities in Suffolk where the driver or passenger was not wearing a seatbelt and their importance should not be underestimated. Even on the shortest trips and at low speeds wearing a seatbelt vastly reduces the likelihood of being seriously injured or even killed. It is an effortless task that should be part of a routine before starting up a vehicle and quite simply can mean the difference between life and death.”