Rotorua locals still not getting seatbelt message

Rotorua Police road policing staff are disturbed and frustrated at the results of a restraint campaign undertaken on Wednesday , where 138 people were ticketed for not wearing seatbelts or for having passengers unrestrained in the car.

Of those, 26 drivers had unrestrained passengers under the age of 15 years in the car – 18 of those had passengers under five years of age with no restraint of any kind.

Unbelievably, two separate people who were stopped and fined on Wednesday morning were caught again in the afternoon, still without wearing their seatbelts.

The numbers are worse than the last restraint campaign held in April.

The focus on restraints came just one day before a fatal car accident on State Highway 30 near Lake Rotoiti early on Thursday morning , where a lack of seatbelt restraint was believed to be a factor in the fatality.

Senior Sergeant Denton Grimes, the head of the Road Policing Rotorua team, says his team is incredibly frustrated and disappointed that the message is still not getting through.

"It simply doesn't matter whether you are driving to the dairy or on a longer trip out of town, Rotorua people are getting hurt on Rotorua roads because they are not wearing seatbelts," he says.

"Seatbelts are proven to be effective in saving lives and preventing injury. In fact, safety belts have saved more lives than any other road safety intervention. Wearing your seatbelt reduces your chance of death or serious injury in a crash by 40 per cent.

"Putting your seat belt on is a simple process that costs nothing, but saves lives. This is clearly a big issue in our area. Our numbers were disappointing last time we ran a campaign of this kind – it's extremely disturbing that those figures have got even worse."

Senior Sergeant Grimes says while a full investigation of Thursday's fatal crash is yet to be completed, it is clear that speed, alcohol and lack of restraints is a factor.

"This is a tragic accident for the people involved who have now lost a friend and family member. Unfortunately, this is not the only example this year of where seatbelts would have made a difference and may have saved lives that were lost."

Senior Sergeant Grimes says the results are so disappointing that he and his team will be back out on the roads running another focus on restraints soon.