Why would someone do this?
A road safety officer in Donegal has warned of a very dangerous habit that has taken off amongst young drivers in the county that is putting lives at risk.
Brian O’Donnell, a road safety officer with the Donegal County Council, has revealed that young drivers in the county have installed extra seat belt clips in their cars for no other reason than to prevent the alarm that sounds when drivers fail to buckle up.
Speaking to Donegal Daily, O’Donnell said: “It defies logic why these young men and others are not wearing seat-belts. Evidence has shown that a percentage of people killed in road traffic accidents have not been wearing belts.
“They are getting the extra safety belt clips for no other reason than to reorient the safety sounds from going off in their cars. You can’t blame the people selling the clips as there is a legitimate reason to sell them.”
Elaborating on why exactly the drivers might want to install the extra seat belt clips, O’Donnell said: “They prefer to sit in this slouched position and that is simply not comfortable if they are wearing a seat belt so they do not wear the seat belts as a result.”
RSA figures reveal that Donegal had the third highest number of road fatalities in Ireland 2015 with seven deaths in the county, the same number as Kildare and Meath.
Cork had the highest number of road fatalities in Ireland in 2015, when ten vehicle users in the county lost their lives.
