The law on wearing seat belts
Lothian & Borders Police Force seatbelt sledge
The seatbelt sledge is a powerful reminder to drivers of what it might feel like to hit a wall even while travelling at a relatively low speed. Lothian & Borders Police use this device at road safety events throughout the area to demonstrate the importance of wearing a seatbelt at all times. Drivers are routinely shocked by force of the impact.
The 'passenger' puts on their seatbelt, and then the sledge runs down a set of rails before coming to an abrupt halt at the bottom.
'I had no idea I was only going at 7mph! That's nothing at all and I got a real fright. Everyone should have to do this; when they realise what this feels like then they would always remember to wear a seatbelt!'
(quote from 19 year old female driver at Lothian & Borders Young Drivers Event at Ocean Terminal, Oct 2010)
The truth is that in a crash at 30 mph, a rear seat passenger will be thrown forwards with a force of three and a half tonnes - the weight of an adult elephant. Around 40 front seat passengers are killed every year simply because although they wore their seat belt, someone sitting behind did not. People in cars who do not wear their seat belts are three times more likely to be killed than those that do.
The seatbelt sledge is an alarming reminder of the risk you run by not wearing a seatbelt!