Transportation and Public Works Minister Gail Shea says
Island motorists can expect to see the introduction of a demerit point system
for seatbelt violations within the next few months.
Prince Edward Island is one of only two provinces in Canada that does not
have such a system in place.
Shea said the adoption of demerit points is prompted by statistics indicating
far too many Islanders still don’t buckle up.
“Far too many people have died on Island highways because they didn’t fasten
their seatbelt and were ejected from their vehicles,” Shea said.
“The number of fatalities is simply too high. I believe introducing demerit
points for seatbelt violations may help to convince some people to buckle up.”
The system she proposes, and is empowered to bring in as a ministerial
directive, would see three demerit points issued to motorists caught with their
seatbelts not fastened.
The accumulation of a set number of points would be addressed initially by an
official warning from the province, but continued violations would lead to loss
of a driver’s licence.
In other provinces the number of demerit points one can earn before
suspension ranges from 12-15.
And demerit points aren’t the only measures on Shea’s mind to motivate
Islanders to buckle up.
During the fall sitting of the legislature she will initiate discussion on
increasing the minimum fine for seatbelt violations.
The minimum fine in P.E.I. currently stands at $50.
In Manitoba, which has a seatbelt compliance record as bad as P.E.I.’s, they
brought in demerit points last year and raised the fine to $230.
“I hope these changes will make those Islanders who don’t wear their
seatbelts change their minds.”
She hopes the time will come when all Islanders who drive will fasten their
seatbelts the minute they get into their vehicle.
“You shouldn’t have to think about it. It should be something you just do,
like getting dressed when you get up in the morning.”
Shea has plenty of fuel to make the argument for both demerit points and
increased fines.
A study carried out this spring for the highway safety division of
Transportation and Public Works found many people still don’t get the importance
of seatbelts.
Far too many for John B. MacDonald, director of the highway safety division.
MacDonald said roughly 81 per cent of Islanders buckle up, four per cent
below the national average of 85 per cent.
But in some communities, in particular rural communities, that number drops
to less than 60 per cent.
Seventeen Island communities were surveyed, with some 500 observations
recorded in each of those communities.
Of those communities, 13 came in below the national average. Six came in at
75 per cent or below.
In Tignish, the lowest- ranked community, only 57.5 per cent complied with
seatbelt legislation. O’Leary was only marginally better at 59 per cent.
Hunter River topped the survey with an 88 per cent compliance rate, one
percentage point ahead of Charlottetown, which placed second. Summerside, the
province’s only other city, came in at 75 per cent.
MacDonald said not even the number of fatalities on Island highways tied to
failure to wear a seatbelt can convince some people to buckle up.
In 2002, there were eight deaths as the result of passenger vehicle accidents
in which those who lost their lives were not buckled up. In 2003, 11 of 14
people killed in passenger vehicle accidents were not buckled up.
This year to date, there have been nine fatal accidents involving passenger
vehicles. In five of those accidents seatbelts were not worn.
Comments made by police on accident reports for these fatalities tell the
tale.
“Vehicle rolled and driver was ejected. ”
“Car went off road and driver was ejected.”
Those same lines appear over and over again.
MacDonald said those not wearing seatbelts include Islanders young and old,
rural and urban, male and female.
However, there is one group in which the incidence of non-compliance with
seatbelt regulations is inordinately high.
That group consists of males under the age of 30 who own half-ton trucks.
So why are Islanders not buckling up?
A parking lot survey conducted in conjunction with the larger survey
attempted to find that out.
“It was interesting to read some of the responses we got from that survey,”
MacDonald said.
“People driving half-ton pickup trucks said they weren’t wearing seatbelts
because they felt the size of their vehicle was protecting them so they didn’t
need to wear a seatbelt. But if you look at the fatalities we’ve had, some of
which involved half-ton trucks, the size of the truck didn’t matter. If you’re
ejected from your truck, how safe you thought your truck was doesn’t matter.”
MacDonald said the safest place to be in a motor vehicle collision is inside
the vehicle, strapped in with your safety belt.
“If you don’t have your belt on and you’re ejected from your vehicle and that
vehicle rolls over on top of you — which has happened here a number of times —
you can lose your life.”
Some survey respondents said they only wore seatbelts if they were going long
distances, despite the fact a large number of accidents happen within a mile of
home.
Some said it was their right not to wear a seatbelt.
MacDonald said they’ve tried any number of ways to get their message out,
from spot checks on the highways and public awareness campaigns to making
seatbelt awareness part of defensive driving courses.
But still people ignore the law.
In 2001, there were 459 convictions for seatbelt violations. That number
climbed to 1,185 in 2002 and to 1,432 to 2003.
MacDonald said stepped-up enforcement brought those numbers up.
“But even with that stepped-up enforcement, we’re still seeing a high number
of fatalities. The police have come out with a zero-tolerance policy on seatbelt
violations and we applaud them on that. We worked with them on that and we hope
that will continue.”
Tough love, MacDonald believes, could make a real difference.
Tough love, in this case, is stiffer fines for failure to wear a seatbelt and
the issuance of demerit points, demerit points which will show up on the
driver’s abstract insurance companies receive.
“They could impact on the rate you pay. They could also impact, in the case
of frequent offenders, on whether your insurance company will continue to insure
you.
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