Buckle up for safety

On average, 15 per cent of deaths on NSW roads every year still involve seatbelt non-usage, with 36 people tragically lost last year.
Wearing a seatbelt will be enforced by existing mobile phone detection cameras from July 1 as the NSW Government bolsters efforts to counter the rising number of road fatalities across the State.
Caught not wearing a seatbelt while driving and you could be fined $362 and hit with three demerits
Minister for Roads, John Graham, said the simple act of correctly wearing a seatbelt while in a moving vehicle, had been a legal requirement in NSW for more than 50 years, but data showed 150 people died while not wearing one in the five years between 2019 and 2023.
“Seatbelts save lives, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
“Wearing a seatbelt doubles a person’s chance of survival in a car crash and the NSW Government is doing everything we can to make sure the simplest safety feature in a car is being used by everyone.”
Mr Graham said camera enforcement was a significant step to reducing needless trauma on the roads that came at the cost of families, loved ones and the first responders who routinely dealt with unimaginable tragedy.
“It has been a legal requirement to wear a seatbelt in NSW since 1971 and it is frankly disturbing that a small minority of people are still not heeding the message,” he said.
“If camera enforcement can convince those people to buckle up we can reduce the 15 per cent of deaths that involve a belt not being worn.”