Falklands : Falklands Extend Seatbelt Law
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 31.05.2006 (Article Archived on 14.06.2006)
Police Inspector Len McGill tells us about the amended law.
EXTENSION OF SEAT BELT LAW
On 25 May 2006 Legislative Council passed The Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2006 and approved The Wearing of Seat Belts (Prescribed Roads)(Amendments) Regulations 2006. His Excellency the Governor signed both pieces of legislation and they will come into effect on Thursday 01 June 2006.
As a result, the requirements in relation to wearing of set belts will from Thursday 01 June 2006 apply to all highways in the Falkland Islands.
Highway means any carriageway, street, thoroughfare, lane or access to a farm constructed by or at the expense of the Crown in right of the Falkland Islands with the intention that it shall be available for use by the public with motor vehicles as of right and regardless of whether;
(a) it is within Stanley or within four miles of the boundary thereof; or
(b) has been declared by the Governor by order to be a road for the purpose of this Ordinance.
In general terms, this change of legislation extends the wearing of seat belts to all the ‘roads’ on East and West Falkland including all those in Stanley. All drivers of motor vehicles must wear an adult belt when driving a motor vehicle and it is the drivers responsibility to ensure that every child, (any person under the age of 14 years), being carried in that motor vehicle, is wearing a child restraint appropriate to their age and height. All other passengers being driven in a motor vehicle must wear an adult belt. The old advert of “clunk click every trip” is well worth remembering.
There are exemptions from the requirement to wear a seat belt by adults. The requirement does not apply to:
a person holding a medical certificate;
a person using a vehicle constructed or adapted for the delivery of goods or mail to consumers or addressees, as the case may be, while engaged in making local rounds of deliveries or collections;
a person driving a vehicle while performing a manoeuvre which includes reversing;
a qualified driver who is supervising the holder of a provisional licence while that holder is performing a manoeuvre which includes reversing;
a person by whom an official test of competence to drive is being conducted where his wearing of a seat belt would endanger himself or any other person;
a person driving or riding in a vehicle while it is being used for fire brigade or police purposes or for carrying a person in lawful custody and a person being so carried;
a disabled person who is wearing a disabled person’s seat belt;
a person driving a vehicle if the driver’s seat is not provided with an adult belt;
a person riding in the front of a vehicle if no adult belt is available for him in the front of a vehicle;
a person riding in the rear of a vehicle if no adult belt is available for him in the rear of the vehicle.
There are exceptions to the wearing of appropriate child restraints. The requirement does not apply:
to a small child, (a child who is aged under 12 years and is under 150 centimetres in height), being carried as a passenger on a coach if –
there is no child restraint of a description suitable for his weight or height, as the case may be, and
he is wearing a seat belt which is suitable for a large child or is an adult belt.
to a child for whom there is a medical certificate signed by a government medical officer and which states, for reasons specified in that certificate, that it is not medically advisable for the child to wear a child restraint;
to a child aged under 1 year in a carry cot provided that the carry cot is restrained by straps; or
to a disabled child who is wearing a disabled persons seat belt.
Officers of The Royal Falkland Islands Police will be carrying out a process of “educating” and informing drivers of motor vehicles and their passengers, in the coming weeks, in relation to this extension of the wearing of seat belts law. Advice can be obtained by contacting the Police either in person at Stanley Police Station, by telephone on 27222, by fax on 27227, by e-mail at reception@police.gov.fk or by letter.
Help us to improve the safety of all motor vehicle occupants by “belting up”.
Len S McGill
Inspector
Acting Chief Police Officer 31 May 2006
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