The safety belt is a life insurance”, this is one of the main messages with which this morning has started the campaign of surveillance and control of the safety belt and child restraint systems that from today and until March 12 the DGT launches.
The subdelegate of the Government has been present at the beginning of this campaign in the province of A Coruña that has begun in the N-550 as it passes through Culleredo. With her presence, María Rivas wanted to support and reinforce the message that wearing a seatbelt halves the risk of death in the event of an accident.
For this campaign the General Directorate of Traffic will activate in the province of A Coruña 15 cameras that will monitor the use of the belt, 35 throughout Galicia. In addition, in A Coruña, the DGT will distribute to drivers some bookmarks in which a decalogue of reasons that justify the use of the belt is collected.
“Awareness, deterrence and prevention are the pillars of all the campaigns launched by the Government in the field of road safety with a single objective: to reduce to zero the deaths in traffic accidents,” said the deputy delegate. He also congratulated the provincial traffic headquarters for having implemented this campaign with a useful and creative initiative such as the design of these bookmarks.
“We need a constant bombardment of messages that affect the importance of using the seatbelt, it is the lifeguard we have as soon as we get into a car,” said the deputy delegate who added that “all insistence is little when it comes to stopping the number of deaths on our roads.”
During her speech, María Rivas recalled that not wearing a seatbelt is, along with speed and driving under the influence of alcohol, one of the main risk factors on the road.
In fact, in the urban area, the chance of being seriously injured or killed is 5 times lower if you wear your belt.
In the year 2022 a total of 55 people died in the province of A Coruña. Of these, 29 were travelling in a tourist or van, 9 were not wearing seat belts (31% of those who died in a tourist or van were not wearing seat belts).
From January to March in the province of A Coruña, 4 people died in total, 2 were traveling in a tourist or van and none was wearing a belt (100%). The other 2 deceased were pedestrians
The Government’s deputy delegate in A Coruña also stressed the importance of having an impact on the use of seat belts in the rear seats. Increasing its use is one of the objectives of this campaign.
Not using the seat belt on the rear seats means that in the event of a frontal impact, the likelihood of a rear-seat occupant fatally hitting another passenger in the front seats can be up to 8 times greater.
The campaign that takes place between March 6 and 12 wants to inculcate in the population the enormous effectiveness of the retention systems both in adults and minors. The General Directorate of Traffic warns that, at 80 kilometers per hour, a frontal crash without wearing the safety belt usually brings with it the result of death or serious injuries. In rollovers, the belt reaches its maximum effectiveness reducing the risk of death by up to 77%
The subdelegate of the Government has been accompanied by the Provincial Traffic Chief, Victoria Gómez and the head of the Traffic sector of the Civil Guard in Galicia, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Hidalgo