Belt Up NZ: Auckland Transport launches new seatbelt campaign

Auckland Transport has teamed up with the police on a new campaign about seatbelt and child restraint safety, in a bid to save lives.

The campaign comes as the Herald launched Belt Up New Zealand, a four-day series looking at seatbelt-related deaths and injuries.

In the past five years, more than 300 people who died in New Zealand crashes were not wearing their seatbelt.

Most of those deaths were in 2016.

Police say many of the 94 people who died in crashes last year while not properly restrained, could have survived had they been wearing a seatbelt.

Belt Up NZ aims to raise awareness and improve safety for all Kiwis on our roads.

This afternoon Auckland Transport announced the new campaign with police.

I Just Clicked kicks off today to remind people that seatbelts save lives.

AT is using traditional and social media, and police will be stopping drivers and issuing fines for those who break the rules.

"It's a shame that we still need to remind people to do something that most people consider common sense," said AT's walking, cycling and road safety manager Kathryn King.

"It's even more alarming that there are people who are risking the lives of children they are transporting by not buckling them properly into a car seat, which is designed to save their life.

"We are doing everything we can to educate people about the importance of buckling up for every single journey."

King said statistics show that last year at checkpoints, 62 per cent of car seats that were checked had some sort of fault, which was "far too high".

Waitemata road policing manager Inspector Trevor Beggs said that there have been far too many crashes in recent times that resulted in unnecessary loss of life just because people weren't properly restrained.

"It's often men who take the risk not to wear their seatbelts, but these poor choices aren't being made by just one particular group in our society," he said.

"This is why we need to get this message out there that wearing seatbelts saves lives.

"It's simply a no-brainer.

Beggs said a large proportion of crashes occur on short trips where drivers may not be wearing their seatbelts.

"Road users can feel safe on roads they know well, and may become complacent as a result. Just popping out to the diary or doing the school run is still a risk, and we must protect ourselves and our passengers by ensuring seat belts are always worn," he said.

"Every time we travel in a vehicle, our chances of being seriously injured or killed in a crash is greatly reduced if simply put on our seatbelt.

"Police hope that this message will really click for our community as a result of this latest campaign."

Beggs said the impact on families and the community of seatbelt-related deaths was "massive".

"We need to see these figures shifting.

"One of the aims of this campaign, through the creative we are using, is to show people the human side of not doing the right thing."