People in their teens and 20s are worst at wearing seatbelts when travelling as passengers in the back seat of cars in Northern Ireland, it was revealed today.
Twenty five per cent of those aged between 14 and 29 don't put on as seatbelt in the back of a car, according to the results of a major survey commissioned by the British department of the environment.
However the 75 per cent seatbelt wearing rate was the highest recorded for the age-group since the series of studies began in 1994 and was a full 7 per cent up on a year earlier.
The details were released on the day of the funerals of the second two of the four youngsters who died in a horror crash in Co Fermanagh when the car they were crammed into the rear of crashed into a tree.
The study also discovered that 15 per cent of the 5-13 age-group still travelled unrestrained in the back of cars.
The highest level of restraint was of babies and children under four — 96 per cent.
Overall the study reported an increase in belting-up by both front and back seat passengers, with the rate for drivers remaining the same.
It recorded that 93 per cent of drivers and front seat passengers were wearing a seatbelt, the passenger figure up 1 per cent on the previous year. In the back of cars the overall figure for belting-up was 85 per cent — up 4 per cent on the year.
The influence of a driver not wearing a seatbelt was considerable. In those vehicles where the driver was unrestrained front seat wearing rate dropped to 58 per cent and rear seat passengers to 57 per cent, said the DoE.
Overall females were slightly better at wearing a belt than males — 95 per cent against 92 per cent.
PA