Wear a seatbelt - or get penalty points

If you're caught not wearing a seatbelt, you could soon receive three penalty points on your driving licence, if Government proposals come to fruition.

The proposals follow statistics which revealed that, although 94% of drivers normally wear seatbelts, accident investigators found that only 65% of drivers who were killed in crashes did so.

Until now, the Department for Transport (DfT) has relied on persuasion through publicity campaigns to encourage drivers and their passengers to put their belts on.

However, it has now signalled its readiness to take tougher action, as it starts to review its road safety strategy.

A spokesman said the DfT was ready to consider 'making non-compliance with seatbelt-wearing' an endorsable offence.