Melton drivers still flouting seat belt law

Officers detected seven vehicles where seat belts were not being worn while monitoring traffic on Wilton Road.

Drivers can be fined up to £500 for not belting up - it has been compulsory since 1983 and for passengers since 1991.

Today’s initiative was the latest FATAL4 operation - concerted campaigns carried out across Leicestershire and Rutland to clamp down on offences which are likely to lead to collisions.

Jonathan Clarkson of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership, told the Melton Times: “Seat belt offences are among the most common we see being committed which is amazing when you consider there have been safety campaigns about it since the 1980s.

“You only have to think back to the collision in which Princess Diana was killed - the only person who got out of it alive was the one wearing a seat belt.”

There were 21 offences detected in Tuesday’s operation, including six drivers using a mobile phone at the wheel.

Eight vehicles were also stopped for registration mark offences, where the spacing of digits, size of the actual plate or a tint has flouting motoring regulations.

This was the first time Wilton Road was used for a FATAL4 operation.