§ Mr. Marksasked the Minister of Transport what is his estimate of the likely increase in the wearing of seat belts in the front seats of cars should wearing them be made compulsory.
§ Mr. FowlerIt would be unwise to hazard a forecast. The claimed wearing rate in other countries which have introduced compulsory wearing varies widely from country to country and according98W to type of road. In some countries it is as low as 50–60 per cent.; in others as high as 80–90 per cent. I can only say that if compulsion were introduced in this country, I would expect that the majority of people would obey the law and that there would, therefore, be a substantial increase in the present overall wearing rate of some 33 per cent. for drivers.