Campaign launched to increase use of seat belts

Campaign launched to increase use of seat belts

BELGRADE -- The police in Serbia have stepped up checks and are fining drivers whose passengers traveling in the rear seat are found not to be using a seat belt.

Director of the Traffic Safety Agency Krsto Lipovac told the RTS broadcaster that a campaign to this end will be ongoing during the next week.

According to him, this is a Europe-wide campaign which Serbia has joined.

In developed countries, he remarked, the number of those not using seat belts is around five percent - and this small number of people is responsible for 50 percent of all "traffic problems."

Also on Tuesday, the Committee for Traffic Safety announced that usage of seat belts in the rear seat is extremely important for safe participation in traffic.

The committee noted that a passenger traveling in the rear seat without using a seatbelt could be endangering the life of the person sitting in front of them by hitting them during head-on collisions and inflicting serious injuries, often resulting in death.

If the vehicle turned over, the rear seat passenger would endanger all other persons traveling with them, as they would move uncontrollably and violently collide with "everything around them."

"We draw the attention of vehicle owners and drivers to the fact that removal of rear seat belts constitutes an unauthorized modification to the vehicle, and that such vehicle will be considered technically unfit," the statement said, and added that this was also punishable by law.