Research from one of the UK’s leading road safety charities has found that younger drivers are potentially dicing with death by ignoring the laws on wearing seat belts.

The charity Brake polled some 2,000 drivers to find which groups of motorists were most likely to abide by the seat belt rules, and the results revealed that those in the 25-34 age group were most likely to fall foul of the law. Only 62 per cent of drivers in that age range said that they always wear a seat belt, which might not seem like such a problematic percentage, but when you consider that 96 per cent of those 55 and older always wear a seat belt then the problem is clear.

“Research shows that younger drivers and passengers are generally more willing to take risks on the road, including actively choosing not to wear a seat belt,” said Brake’s head of campaigns, Jason Wakeford.

“Also, younger drivers are more likely to believe they have heightened protection from vehicle safety features, like air bags and ABS (anti-lock braking systems), meaning they can take more risks behind the wheel.

“It is tragic that, despite these major technological advances, it remains the case that people continue to die or be catastrophically injured because some of us are still not using the most basic and vital vehicle safety feature of all – seat belts.”

The charity’s research also found that men (1.4%) have higher chance of not wearing a seat belt than women (0.2%). Wearing a seat belt has been a legal requirement since 1983.

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