BELT UP!!!

Does anyone remember Jimmy Saville heading the seatbelt campaign back in the mid-1970's? Clunk Click Every Trip!

Yes? Well, even if you're not old enough the video evidence is right there on YouTube, as you can see. And the seatbelt law is not a new introduction, obviously.

The current British law regarding seatbelts in motor vehicles is thus:

4.2 Since 1965, new cars in the UK have had to be fitted with front seat belts by law. Rear seat belts were required to be fitted to new cars from 1987. On 31 January 1983, it became compulsory for drivers and front seat passengers to wear seat belts. Wearing rear seat belts became compulsory for children under 14 in 1989 and for adults in 1991. An exemption for goods vehicle drivers undertaking deliveries was curtailed in 2005. In 2006, new rules required children to travel in the appropriate child restraint. At the same time, passengers aged 14 and above on buses and coaches were required to use seat belts where available.

(source: http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/compliance/compliancehtml?page=16 )

So, how come, every time I open a British newspaper (or view online news reports) or watch ("fly on the wall") programmes like "What Katie Did Next", do I see "celebrities" being allowed to drive without their seatbelt? What denotes that they are above the law and what is stopping the police from actually prosecuting them? Surely there isn't a loophole in the law of the land that allows them to get away with it?

The latest culprits are Ashley and Cheryl Cole. Here they are pictured driving away from a casino without wearing their seatbelts. Fair enough, they may still be in the car park, but it has been proved that even at slow speeds, the sudden jolt of having to slam your brakes on for anything (a stray member of the paparazzi? a fan running over for an autograph?) can have drastic effects.

My point is this... Safety first!!! Secondly, public figures, who are very influential to our children (X-Factor judge and Premiership footballer in this instance) should be setting an example AT ALL TIMES and should follow the letter of the law. No excuses.

Edited to add:

Some facts for you...

(source: http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/focusareas/invehiclesafety/seatbelts?whoareyou_id=/think/whoareyou/drivers

• In a crash someone not wearing a seat belt is more likely to die than someone using one. In 2007, of the 1,432 car occupants killed, research indicates that some 34 per cent were not wearing a seat belt.
• While few people admit to regularly travelling without a seat belt, research shows that 24 per cent of people admit they sometimes don't wear a seat belt when travelling in the back, and 10 per cent in the front. There is also evidence that people are less likely to use seat belts on short or familiar journeys or at low speeds. This puts them at serious risk of injury in a crash.
• You are twice as likely to die in a crash if you don't wear a seat belt.
• Nearly 300 lives would almost certainly have been saved in 2007 if all car occupants had been wearing a belt. Roughly, that's one life a day.

THINK! seat belt strategy

The Department for Transport has been promoting the use of seat belts since 1973, long before it became compulsory by law to use one. THINK! are continuing to work on reinforcing the message to new generations of drivers and passengers through a mixture of powerful TV and radio advertising, supported by our online seat belt crash simulator. This shows the real effects of not using a seat belt at different speeds.

Memories

Today it is 27 years since my Nana died. I only remembered after I'd written the date a few times, however I do have vivid memories of the day she died and the week after.

I was 10 years old and in top class at primary school. Nana's house was on the route to school so I used to walk to there with my mum and my sister then cross the park to my friend's house and walk to school with her (oh, the grown up responsibility - walking 3 blocks with no adult supervision!). On 2nd December 1982 Mum asked me if I wanted to go and see Nana on the way because I'd not seen her all week. I said that I didn't and skipped off to Tara's house.

Later that night, just as I'd gone to bed, the phone rang. I could hear mum's muffled voice then I heard her make another phone call. About 15 minutes later, my aunt and uncle came round and my mum and dad went out. My aunt came upstairs and said that my Nana had called to say she was unwell, could my mum go round and that she had come to look after my sister and I for a while.

I couldn't sleep. My 10 year old brain was telling me that something just wasn't quite right. I tossed and turned for what seemed like an age and then then I heard the front door open and close. I listened to snippets of the conversation and worked out what was going on. Nana had died.

I sat at the top of the stairs with my legs outstretched; my heels on my feet touching the very edge of the top step so that all you could have seen from the bottom of the stairs was the underneath of my foot and I imagined that this is how Nana was now, waiting in Purgatory, before she went to Heaven. It's how the mind of a good Catholic girl worked, you see - I was mixing up 'souls' and 'soles'. I must have been sat there a while because I heard a lot more detail about what the doctor thought was the cause of death, how the fire brigade had had to break into her flat and where she was when she was found. I heard my dad moving around downstairs and scuttled back to bed. He then came upstairs, woke my sister and I (I pretended to be asleep) and broke the news to us.

The next day I went to school as normal, but we walked a different route - not past Nana's house. Once in school and before class started, we said morning prayers and my teacher mentioned her during a remembrance prayer. I then started to feel guilty. All I could remember was not wanting to go and visit her the previous morning... I'd just wanted to go and call for my friend and walk to school on my own.

Although I don't remember much about the next week, it must have affected me a lot. I told my parents what I had heard on the night she died and they were surprised at how much I already knew. They also realised why I was now so upset even though they'd tried to protect me from the sadness. I begged and begged to go to the funeral as I felt that it was my way to make amends and say goodbye.

When I had my own children and they started developing their own personalities, my mum would say, "Your Nana would have loved Rachel/Michael/Jake"... and, I agree, she would. And it's because of the lovely memories I have of my Nana that I also wanted to be called "Nana" when my daughter first found out she was pregnant last year.