The subdelegate of the Government in Pontevedra, Abel Losada, reported today that 121 drivers and passengers were denounced in the province of Pontevedra for failing to comply with the regulations on the use of the security belt and child restraint systems (CRS). These are the data contained in the latest surveillance campaign on the use of the security belt and CRS that the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) carried out between March 11 and 17. In this period, 5,470 vehicles were controlled throughout the province.
The number of complaints of non-use of the safety belt was 118, affecting 77 drivers, 28 passengers in the front seats and 13 passengers in the rear seats. With regard to child restraint systems, 3 cases were reported in which children did not use CRS or did so incorrectly; 2 in the front seats and 1 in the rear seats.
Abel Losada pointed out that “the results confirm a reality and that is that there is still a sector of the population that still does not use the belt when it drives despite the advantages that it brings and that in case of accident it can determine the life or death of a person”. “It seems surprising, but we must continue to insist on the need to make use of these security elements.”
At the national level, 76% of all complaints were placed on conventional roads, rising in the case of the province of Pontevedra to 97.5%. A worrying fact is that these roads are still the most dangerous because they are where the greatest number of fatalities are recorded and where it is even more important to take precautions.
Not all of Spain, 5,524 adults were punished for not using the security belt, a figure that was slightly increased with respect to the previous edition of this campaign and that means that 3,043 drivers, 1,270 passengers in the front seats and 1,211 in the rear seats did not travel properly protected our vehicles in case of a traffic accident. It is proven that the safety belt, in addition to reducing by 50% the risk of dying in a traffic accident, protects from getting fired from the cabin, as well as from impacting against the windscreen. In urban areas, the chance of being seriously injured or killed is 5 times lower if the occupant of the vehicle is wearing the safety belt.
In the case of children, the use of child restraint systems is even more important since the data show that nine out of ten serious or fatal child injuries would have been avoided if the mandatory restraint systems were used. In addition, in case of suffering a traffic accident, the injuries are reduced by up to 75% with an adequate use of them.