9 out of 10 Romanians believe the seat belt is very important, but three quarters do not wear it on the back seats

Although 90% of Romanians say that it’s very important for passengers to wear seat belts in the car, rear seat belts are still ignored by three-quarters of passengers, even though is mandatory by law, a national study conducted by the market research company MIA Marketing finds.

Studies at the European level show that not wearing a seat belt is the second leading cause of death in accidents occurring at the EU level, second only to exceeding speed limits, and ahead of driving under the influence of alcohol.

In the national study participated 1,019 Romanians between the ages of 18 and 70 from all regions of the country, and 9 out of 10 of the participants (90%) consider that wearing a seat belt is of vital importance. However, the importance of wearing a seat belt is seen differently depending on the level of education: if  93% of people with higher education say that the belt is “very important” in the car,  only 86% of those with basic education consider this.

Although the importance of wearing a seat belt seems to be more and more ingrained in the collective mind, rear-seat passengers generally remain impassive to the laws of physics, to the risks they can face in cars, and finally to the road legislation, which stipulates that it’s mandatory to wear a seat belt for all passenger seats fitted with this safety device. While 99% of drivers and 95% of front-seat passengers do wear seat belts, rear-seat passengers wear seat belts only in a quarter of cars in Romania (27%).

In the European Union, seat belts have been mandatory for all passengers since 2006.

Source: economedia.ro