§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have arisen from child safety restraints not being used in cars since the Act came into force.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information collected centrally does not separately distinguish between the various seat belt offences. Between 1983 and the end of 1989 there were 81,475 proceedings at magistrates courts in England and Wales for seat belt offences under the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations 1982 and the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts by Children) Regulations 1982 and later legislation. Since 1 October 1986, the police have also been able to issue fixed penalty notices for seat belts offences, and by the end of 1989 about 280,000 notices for seat belts offences had been issued.