Those who fail to wear a seatbelt while travelling on Cambridgeshire's roads are being targeted by officers as part of a week-long enforcement blitz which got under way today.

The initiative is part of a European-wide campaign organised by Traffic Information System Police (TISPOL) and is backed by photographic evidence gathered by Evening Telegraph photographers showing one driver every two minutes flouting the law in the city centre.

Police conducted spot checks in Thorpe Road, Peterborough, at 8am today and dished out fines to anyone caught not buckling up.

Casualty reduction officer Pc Tony Barrios said: "A seatbelt can mean the difference between life and death and it astonishes me that some people continue to risk their lives by not belting up.

How the rules have been updated

• 1983: The law on wearing seatbelts in the front of vehicles came into force.


• 1989: Regulations came into effect for mandatory rear seatbelt wearing by children.


• 1991: Wearing a seat belt in the back of a car became compulsory.


• 2006: It became compulsory for drivers to ensure that children up to 135cm (4ft 5ins) tall use the correct child car seats or boosters in cars, vans and goods vehicles.

There are very few exceptions to these rules.

"Putting on your seatbelt should be part of your routine before even starting your car, and drivers should be responsible for ensuring all passengers wear their seatbelts."

Last year, 4,337 people were issued with £30 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for failing to wear a seatbelt in the county.

Pc Barrios added: "Last year saw the number of fatal collisions at its highest for seven years, and we are determined to reduce this.

"Part of this work is to ensure the laws of the roads are adhered to and those who continue to ignore the law are targeted.

"Over the next, week officers will be conducting road checks in a bid to crack down on those failing to wear a seatbelt while travelling on the county's roads."

Shocking statistics show that one in 10 drivers and front-seat passengers, and four in 10 rear-seat adults still don't wear seatbelts, and many drivers still fail to ensure that children are properly secured.

Seatbelt wearing in the front seat is thought to save more than 2,200 lives every year.

Everyone knows they should wear a seatbelt in the front, but many people still don't realise how dangerous it is not to wear a seat belt in the back of a vehicle.

In a crash at 30mph, if you are unrestrained, you will hit the front seat, and anyone in it, with a force of between 30 and 60 times your own body weight.

In January, it was revealed that 2.3 million drivers were still not buckling up, a quarter of a century after the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) successfully campaigned for compulsory belt-wearing to save lives.

And an ET investigation captured one driver every two minutes flouting the law.