In Ireland, it's 27 per cent. In Australia it's around 25 per cent - and from the USA comes the statement: "In 2018, 22,220 passengers were killed in road crashes and 48 per cent of those were not restrained."
A UK commentator put it this way: "About 7 per cent of road users do not wear seatbelts. Seatbelts are said to halve the risk of death - which should be 15 per cent of fatalities (who) are not restrained. When in fact 33 per cent of road fatalities are not restrained, then non-seatbelt wearers are a significantly disproportionate part of our road toll and it really is time to get serious about seatbelt usage."
But our politicians aren't interested. You get fined $150 for non-seatbelt wearing, with no demerit points. Most other countries hand down demerits with a much higher fine. In Australia, failure to wear a seatbelt cops you a $391 fine and three demerit points (12 demerits in three years and you lose your licence), and if you are a repeat offender within 12 months the fine and demerit points are doubled.
But there is no plan to introduce a similar system here. It is appalling that a road user can get demerit points for not having a current registration, not wearing a helmet, failing to display an L plate or driving without a licence plate, but seatbelt wearing is not on the list. The cause of a third of our road fatalities gets no political attention.
So, who are these offenders and why don't they wear seatbelts? The AA Research Foundation study in 2017 researched 200 crashes involving the death of someone not belted up, to find any particular common factors about people at risk. They identified these more at-risk groups: drivers working in primary industry or trade; those driving in a rural area; drivers in an older vehicle which might be a van or truck; drivers who had previous traffic offences for speeding, WOF or licence offences, and those who were male.
But if you want to get a message to these people you need to understand why they don't buckle up.
In the last month Northland Road Safety Trust, in association with NZTA, have been conducting focus groups with various rugby player groups who might be considered to be in the at-risk group. These guys were incentivised to attend and talked freely about what they do.
They don't engage with TV, radio or any social media influencers. They watch Netflix or podcasts because there are no ads. They detest jokey ads but appreciate powerful messages that cut through. They listen to their kids and their parents and are heavily influenced by knowing of or being involved in a fatal crash themselves.
So to get through to these guys you need a powerful message which could be delivered through the kids - reminding Dad to make it click. Maybe we need to resurrect the old McDonald's 'Make It Click' ad. This had Ronald McDonald driving an old jalopy singing to the 'Click Go The Shears' tune. "Does it make a difference if you are going near or far?" to which police responded, "If you are in the front seat or if you are in the back, click goes the seatbelt, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK".
Sounds corny, but if the kids tell Dad to belt up these guys will take notice. Lack of seatbelt use is one of our biggest unsolved road safety problems. Let's focus on it.
