Police say that is because the seat-belt law, which came into effect January 16, 2002, is currently under revision. <\/P><\/p>\n
The hefty fines underwent heavy scrutiny some years ago and caused certain provisions of the Act to be revisited. <\/P><\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Stephanie Rahming, deputy controller of the Road Traffic Department says it is law and authorities are still encouraging all drivers to wear their seat-belts. <\/P><\/p>\n
“We are also advising parents to ensure that children are in the back seat, in a car seat and buckled up,” she said. <\/P><\/p>\n
Since the introduction of the new seat-belt law, authorities have launched several “Buckle Up” Campaigns throughout the country; erecting billboards and strategic spots at advising motorists and their passengers to utilize their seat-belts during road checks. <\/P><\/p>\n
With the law up for revision, residents were uncertain of the penalties and\/or enforcement or even if it was still law. <\/P><\/p>\n
However, Ms. Rahming points out, the seat-belt is one of the number one life-saving devices in a vehicle, adding that there is seemingly a recurring trend among motorists. <\/P><\/p>\n
“I’m noticing a trend in Grand Bahama again where we see parents driving with children in their lap. This is very, very dangerous and unsafe,” said the deputy controller. <\/P><\/p>\n
According to the seat-belt law, children under age must be in car seats. Older children in the back seat must ride with their seat-belt on. <\/P><\/p>\n
The law prohibits any person from driving a motor vehicle, or permitting a person to ride as a passenger in that vehicle unless the person or their passenger is secured by a seat-belt. <\/P><\/p>\n
Anyone found committing such an offence is liable to a summary conviction and fine of $300. <\/P><\/p>\n
Any passenger other than the driver found not using his seat-belt is liable to a summary conviction and fine of $100. <\/P><\/p>\n
Any passenger under the age of five should be secured in a child passenger seat. <\/P><\/p>\n
Vehicles exempted from seat-belts are motor cycles, omni buses, trucks, except for front seat use by the driver and any other passenger sitting alongside the driver. <\/P><\/p>\n
In the case of a truck with a double row of seats in the cab, the law stipulates that the first double row of seats should also have a seat-belt. <\/P><\/p>\n
Cars manufactured before 1986 and trucks manufactured before 1972 vehicles that were not with the mandatory use of seat-belts are also exempted. <\/P><\/p>\n
Any person who permits a child without a seat-belt or secured in a passenger seat is, by law, liable to a summary conviction and fine of $500. <\/P><\/p>\n
Additionally, any person who sells, offers for sale or hires any motor vehicle which is required by the Act to have seat-belts will be fined $500 for the first offence and $1,000 for a second or subsequent offences. <\/P><\/p>\n
Recommendations for a revision of the fines have been offered and forwarded to change the existing legislation. <\/P><\/p>\n
To date, Ms. Rahming says she is not aware of any fines that have been levied since the seat-belt law came into effect. <\/P><\/p>\n
As lawmakers make provisions to revise the current legislation, the deputy controller says the seat-belt law is still on the books and needs to be adhered to. <\/P><\/p>\n
In that vein, she said adults still need to ensure that children in the back seats are in car seats or have a seat-belt on.<\/P><\/p>\n
By LEDEDRA MARCHE, Senior Freeport News Reporter<\/SMALL><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Although it is illegal not to wear your seat-belt, drivers who don’t buckle-up are not being ticketed because the law is not being enforced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248692\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}