“Belt up,” says opposition
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, could be facing a £100 fine having been filmed in the back of a moving vehicle without wearing his seatbelt.
In a video posted to his Instagram account in which he extolls the virtues of the government’s “levelling-up” fund, Sunak can be seen with his body angled towards the camera and not wearing a seatbelt as the law prescribes.
Drivers and passengers over the age of 14 caught not wearing their seatbelts, both in the front and back of cars, can be given an on-the-spot penalty of £100, increasing to £500 if the case goes to court.
Recent Department for Transport figures suggested that about 30% of people killed in cars on Britain’s roads in 2021 were not wearing a seatbelt.
Given that Sunak was likely being driven by a specially-trained police driver and that his car was being escorted by police motorcycles, it’s not entirely clear whether the legal exemption to seatbelt-wearing rules that exists when a vehicle is being used for police, fire or rescue services would also, in this case, extend to the Prime Minister.
Nevertheless, Sunak has apologised for making a “brief error” by removing his seatbelt to film the video.
“That was a brief error of judgment,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
“The prime minister removed his seatbelt to film a short clip. [He] fully accepts this was a mistake and apologises. The prime minister believes everyone should wear a seatbelt.
“It was an error of judgment, he removed it for a short period of time to film a clip, which you’ve seen, but he accepts that was a mistake.”
Lancashire Constabulary (in whose jurisdiction the video was filmed) referred a request for comment to the Metropolitan Police.
The Opposition was quick to pick up on Sunak’s failure to wear his seatbelt, with Karl Turner, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East, writing on Twitter: “Belt-up, Rishi Sunak.”
Turner also attacked the prime minister for listing his own constituency, Richmond, in the list of areas allocated “levelling-up” funding, while Hull received nothing.
“He’s just given his own constituency, namely Richmond, £19 million,” Turner wrote. “It’s the least deprived area in the north of England. Hull East got nowt.”
Labour said Mr Sunak’s video added to “endless painful viewing” after he was seen struggling to make a contactless payment with his card last year.
“Rishi Sunak doesn’t know how to manage a seat belt, his debit card, a train service, the economy, this country,” a spokeswoman said.
“This list is growing every day, and it’s making for endless painful viewing.”
Sunak’s seatbelt incident follows criticism of the prime minister for using an RAF jet for a series of official visits last Thursday (January 12) in which he made the 230-mile journey from London to Blackpool in the plane before later flying 120 miles onwards to Darlington.
Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said of the incident:
“It seems like the PM is getting too used to flying around in private jets that he’s forgotten to wear a seat belt in a car.”
- After reading about the PM’s video where he is not wearing a seatbelt, you may be interested to read about new safety measures aimed at increased use of seatbelts
- And you may also like to read about Australia rolling out roadside cameras designed to catch drivers using mobile phones
- Read how UK drivers have more than 10.6m points on their licenses
Keyword: Rishi Sunak could face £100 fine after video shot in moving car shows him not wearing seatbelt