Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-08-01 Origin: Site
There is a persistent and deeply concerning issue: despite being one of the most fundamental life-saving measures in road safety, seat belts were still not worn by a significant number of people involved in fatal collisions. Seat belts work by keeping occupants securely in place during a crash, reducing the risk of being thrown forward or ejected, and roughly halving the chance of death. Yet between 20% and 30% of all car occupants killed each year were not wearing a seat belt – that’s more than 150 deaths a year.
As the single most effective in-vehicle safety measure, their mandatory use, introduced over forty years ago, was a pivotal step towards safer roads. Yet, alarmingly, the proportion of car occupants who die while not wearing a seat belt has been rising.
PACTS has published detailed briefings, reports, and open letters, and has engaged with policymakers to stress the urgency of improving seat belt wearing rates to help prevent unnecessary deaths and serious injuries.
In 1981, following a series of parliamentary debates, an amendment to what became the 1981 Transport Act secured the mandatory use of seat belts in front seats. Barry Sheerman, then an MP for Huddersfield, played a key role.
The informal coalition of parliamentarians, road safety professionals, casualty surgeons, and academics who had rallied for this life-saving change quickly recognised the value of an ongoing, evidence-based voice in Parliament for transport safety. This led to the formal establishment of PACTS in 1982, which later became a registered charity.
Since then, PACTS has continued to provide independent, expert advice to both Houses of Parliament on transport safety policy. This includes the continued need for improving in-vehicle safety technology.
The importance of wearing a seat belt
Seat belts remain the foundation of occupant safety, even in vehicles equipped with modern technologies such as airbags and advanced driver-assistance systems.
Wearing a seat belt approximately halves the likelihood of a fatal outcome in a collision.
