Buckle Up In the Back – It Is the Law, and the Right Thing to Do

Statement by Donald Grant, Minister of Transport and Public Works

This month’s (September 2014) road safety focus is on seatbelts, and Safely Home will be encouraging members of the public to buckle up in the back, because it is both the law and the right thing to do.

Inspired by one of our NGO partners, South Africans against Drunk Driving, I am encouraging members of the public to join Premier Helen Zille, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille, my cabinet colleagues and me in sharing photos of themselves buckled up in the back seat.

Buckling up in the back seat is not just required by law. It is the right thing to do, and not just because it doubles your chance of surviving a crash. Unbuckled back seat passengers become projectiles during a crash and kill or seriously injure other passengers or the driver. It is not just your own life you are protecting when you choose to do the right thing, and buckle up in the back.

Selfies and photos of the Western Cape’s Provincial Cabinet buckled up in the back can be found on Safely Home’s website.

Safely Home (@WCGovSafelyHome) will tweet the photos using the hashtag #SeatbeltsSept.