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Apr 9, 2018 · Successive Governments proposed, but failed to deliver, further seat belt legislation throughout the 1970s and it wasn’t until 31 January 1983 – 15 years later – that a law requiring all drivers and front seat passengers to wear their seatbelts came into force.
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A selection of historic THINK! adverts have been made available online to celebrate 30 years of the seatbelt law.
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
Three decades of compulsory seatbelt use are being marked today as the government made a selection of historic THINK! adverts available online. The law requiring all drivers to wear their seatbelts came in to force 30 years ago today (31 January 2013) - on 31 January 1983.
Car manufacturers have had to install seatbelts since 1965 but the law requiring drivers to wear them did not come in to force for another 18 years. In 1991 the law changed again making it a legal requirement for adults to wear seatbelts in the back of cars.
Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said:
Thousands of lives have been saved and countless injuries prevented over the years because drivers and passengers were wearing seatbelts.
Soon after the law came into effect in 1983, 90% of car drivers and front-seat passengers were observed to be wearing seat belts. These high rates of seat belt wearing in front-seats of cars have been sustained since that time.
When seatbelt wearing became compulsory for all rear-seat occupants in 1991, there was an immediate increase from 10% to 40% in observed seat belt wearing rates.
The government’s latest seatbelt campaign is available on the THINK! website.
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1983: British drivers ordered to belt up. Drivers and front seat passengers must wear seatbelts under a new law which came into force at midnight. The Department of Transport says 30,000 people a...
Apr 4, 2024 · The wearing of seatbelts for drivers and front-seat passengers was made compulsory under a new law that came into force on 31 January 1983. Before the law was introduced, evidence suggested...
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- 1983
Jan 31, 2023 · Today marks the 40th anniversary for the UK law that was introduced 31st January 1983, which made the wearing of seat belts compulsory for all car drivers and front seat passengers.
Jan 31, 2018 · In 1982, the year before the seat belt law was enforced, 2,443 people were killed on Britain's roads. By 2016, that figure had dropped to 816. This is a huge achievement, especially as the number of cars on the road has increased substantially in that time. But there is still work to be done.
Jul 28, 2021 · On 31 January 1983 the seatbelts wearing law came into force. Shortly after this, 90% of car drivers and front seat passengers were observed to be wearing seatbelts. Moreover, a 29% reduction in fatal injuries of front-seat passengers and a 30% drop in serious injuries were reported that year.
