ROAD policing crews from Cleveland and Durham will be keeping an eye on motorists to check if they are wearing seatbelts.

The initiative will see officers stopping vehicles where drivers or passengers are not wearing their seatbelts from Monday, September 7, as part of the work carried out by TISPOL, the European traffic police network.

And with schools having just gone back across the region, police will be paying particular attention to parents dropping off or picking up their children.

Inspector Wendy Tinkler, from the Cleveland and Durham specialist operations unit, said: “If you travel in a vehicle and fail to wear a seatbelt you are putting yourself and potentially others at a hugely increased risk of serious injury or death.

“Our aim is to keep motorists and passengers as safe as we possibly can and to reinforce the message that children are especially vulnerable.

“We need to protect them in the right manner whenever they are travelling in a vehicle, no matter how short or familiar the journey might be.”

Under current legislation, drivers are responsible for ensuring that suitable safety restraints are worn by all passengers under 14 years old. Children must use an appropriate child car restraint for their weight until they are 135cm tall or their 12th birthday, whichever is first.

As seatbelts do not fit children correctly, an appropriate child car restraint is needed to offer the same level of protection as a seatbelt does for adults. Passengers over 14 years are responsible for wearing their own seatbelt and can therefore face prosecution.