The seatbelt police

Stuff reports:

A Hutt City councillor whose wife was fined $150 for not wearing a seatbelt in a carpark is questioning the use of police time that could have been “better spent” catching burglars.

Chris Milne is angry his wife was ticketed after being spotted driving in a council carpark not buckled in. …

The incident happened after Milne’s wife got into her vehicle in the Riverbank Carpark and drove a short distance before putting on her belt.

She observed a parked police car, as she exited the carpark.

When she drove on to Daly St  she was pulled over by another policeman, who issued the ticket despite her pointing out she was by then wearing her belt.

Looks like revenue gathering to me.

Road policing manager Inspector Derek Orchard said ticketing people not wearing seatbelts was part of the overall approach to reduce fatalities.

A report commissioned by the AA Foundation in 2017 found overwhelming evidence that seatbelts save lives.

“By wearing a seatbelt during a crash, an occupant’s chances of survivability are increased by 60 per cent in the front seats, and 44 per cent in the rear seats.”

And if the crash occurs at 15 km/hr in a car park, how many fatalities then?

Common sense seems to have gone out the window.