Campaigns

The Safer Lancashire Partnership has launched a new campaign to encourage adults to wear seatbelts.

It highlights the copy cat effect of children copying their parents’ bad habits and that if they fail to wear a seatbelt, their children will grow up thinking that this is the right thing to do.

It is against the law for drivers or passengers to fail to wear seatbelts and faces an on the spot fine of £60, and a maximum fine of £500 if prosecuted. Despite this, police figures show that almost one in four of fatalities in Lancashire from road traffic accidents were not wearing a seatbelt.

Over the next weeks, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service will be holding a number of road traffic collision demonstrations to highlight the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt.

The campaign uses the real story of Rick Pilkington to drive home its message.

Samlesbury resident Rick walked away from a major accident on the M6, as he was wearing his seatbelt – but the story could have been very different.

Only a month earlier he’d been stopped by a police officer for not wearing a seat belt – an event which Rick believes saved his life:

“I was stopped by PC Dave Dunn. He gave me a £60 fine, but he also spoke to me about my actions. Through his personality and approach, he persuaded me to change my ways.

“Just four weeks later, I was involved in an accident on the M6 involving my van and an articulated lorry. The van flipped, jumped the hard shoulder and rolled onto its side.

“Amazingly as I crawled out through the wrecked windscreen, the person that greeted me was PC Dunn. Quite simply, without wearing my seatbelt I wouldn’t be here today.”

To find out more about Rick’s story visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuRONQcjcQY

For more information on the campaign, visit www.saferlancashire.co.uk