A supermarket in Colton is supporting Leeds City Council's 'Seatbelt On?' campaign by displaying signs in its car parks.
The Sainsbury's store at Colton will display the signs at the exits to its car park to remind shoppers to belt up before they leave.
* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from Cross Gates Today.Children from Colton Primary School will help Spike, the road safety hedgehog, put up the signs and hand out trolley tokens to shoppers to help them to remember to wear their seatbelts.
* Click here to become a fan of Cross Gates Today on Facebook.Recent figures show that, although the total number of traffic casualties is decreasing, death and serious injury sustained by people in cars remains static. In recent surveys, the council's road safety team found that as many as 40% of adult car users chose not to use safety belts, and many failed to ensure the safety of their younger passengers.
Mark Gilman, manager of Sainsburys at Colton, told
Cross Gates Today:
"The figures supplied by the road safety team are really concerning. At Sainsbury's, we're committed to making a positive difference to the local community and want to encourage our customers to follow the advice of the 'Seatbelt On?' campaign and reduce their risk of injury."
Councillor Stuart Andrew, lead member for road safety said:
"It is great news that Sainsbury's are helping us to promote this programme.
"Too many people think that because they are only making a short journey to the shops they don't need to wear their seatbelt, but people are just as likely to be killed or seriously injured during a short journey as a long journey. These signs will serve as a useful reminder to shoppers to take an extra couple of seconds to belt up before setting off on their journey home."
The aim of 'Seatbelt on?' is to provide car occupants with some straightforward advice of which they should already be aware - that they should belt up for their own safety and for that of their passengers. As the campaign progresses the Police will become more active in enforcing the rules for people who still choose to put their own lives and the lives of others in danger by not wearing their seatbelts.
