Public must change mentality about wearing seat belts

Members of the public, especially car drivers and passengers in front and rear seats, have been urged to change their mentality about the importance of wearing seat belts to ensure safety. Federal Territories Road Safety director Muhammad Heeza Hassan said the drivers and passengers should realise by now that the seat belt was the only safety device in the car that could prevent them from suffering severe injuries in case of an accident. "The most common excuses for not wearing seat belts are because they feel uncomfortable to be buckled up and that they are just making a short-distance trip. "This kind of mentality must be changed as it can contribute to the increase in death toll due to road accidents," he told Bernama here today. Muhammad Heeza said although almost all new cars were equipped with air bag inflator, the public should not depend solely on the device to reduce the impact of the accident on them. "We must remember that air bag inflator may burst, that's why driver and passenger in the front seats must wear the seat belts to reduce the impact of the accident," he said.