§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many drivers have been prosecuted for allowing a child under 14 years to travel404W in a vehicle without wearing a seat belt or legal restraint in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [8231]
(2) how many drivers have been prosecuted for allowing a child under 14 years to travel in a vehicle without wearing a seat belt or legal restraint in Wales in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [8232]
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 12 December 1996]: It is not possible, in the statistics held centrally, to distinguish between passengers or drivers prosecuted for not wearing seat belts, nor whether children under 14 were involved.
The following table gives the available information. As the vast majority of seat belt offences are dealt with by the issue of a fixed penalty notice, the table includes figures for these also.
Driving or riding in a motor vehicle while not wearing a seat belt England and Wales, 1991–1995 Wales England and Wales Number of prosecutions Number of fixed penalties Number of prosecutions Number of fixed penalties 1991 498 n/a 12,156 n/a 1992 379 5,682 11,258 102,322 1993 337 4,184 9,687 106,153 1994 345 4,807 8,715 114,712 1995 334 6,304 8,574 126,251