More than 40 drivers were found not wearing seatbelts during a 90-minute road safety exercise on Cardiff on Friday. Motorists reported seeing a large police presence at Bridge Road in Llandaff North near Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf.
Officers from Fairwater neighbourhood policing team and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service used the school as a base to carry out the joint operation, which ran between 9.45am and 11.15am. In total 42 drivers were stopped.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "They then had the option to accept a fine or watch a safety video at the school. All opted for the latter at the school. Our colleagues in the South Wales Police collision investigation unit and fire service regularly see fatal and life-threatening collisions involving people who weren’t wearing a seatbelt."
About 1,700 cars passed through the area in this timeframe and others were stopped as follows:
- one ticket issued for using a mobile phone while driving;
- 27 drivers undertook an eyesight test, which one failed;
- a vehicle seizure for no licence and insurance;
- one verbal warning for tyre offences.
The law requiring all drivers to wear their seatbelts came in to force on January 31, 1983. Car manufacturers have had to install seatbelts since 1965 but the law requiring drivers to wear them did not come in to force for another 18 years. In 1991 the law changed again making it a legal requirement for adults to wear seatbelts in the back of cars.
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