Ireland lags behind many European countries in terms of seat-belt wearing rates, according to a study published in Brussels today.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) study on European seat-belt wearing rates estimates that across Europe almost 12,000 lives were saved in 2005 alone by the use of seat-belts by drivers.
It found that more than 100 Irish drivers are spared each year by wearing seat-belts. But Ireland is ranked 10th out of 24 countries whose seat-belt wearing rates were studied, with 86 per cent of drivers and front-seat passengers using belts in 2005.
Ireland lags behind its EU partners in seat-belt wearing
The figure is ahead of countries such as Belgium, where only 71 per cent use front seat-belts; the Czech Republic, where 72 per cent do so; and Hungary, where 67 per cent of drivers and front seat passengers use belts.
However, the Republic is behind some of our more compliant European neighbours, according to the ETSC study.
In France, 97 per cent of people travelling in the front of cars in 2005 were said to be wearing their belts, while in Germany and in Malta the figure was 96 per cent. In Britain 90 per cent of those travelling in the front of cars belt up, while Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands all had high compliance rates of 90 per cent or over.
The rate of seatbelt wearing in the backs of cars is lower than front seat rates across the board, but Ireland ranks 12th out of 18 states that record such data. Only 46 per cent of rear seat passengers in the Republic belt up, compared to 89 per cent in Germany, 84 per cent in the United Kingdom and 70 per cent in France.
Many European states do not compile data for the number of people using rear seatbelts.
The ETSC, a Brussels-based road safety group, says it believes thousands of lives are saved by the use of seatbelts each year, basing its estimates on research that suggests wearing a seat belt cuts by half the number of drivers who would die in potentially fatal accidents.
In 2005, the study says, 129 lives were saved on Irish roads because of the use of seatbelts by car drivers.
After speeding, the next most frequent reason for incurring points in the Republic is failure to wear a seat-belt, for which over 38,200 points have been handed out, according to figures released earlier this month.
