WEARING seat belts in the rear of the car is a relatively new law and as such is often treated with derision by complacent passengers and drivers.

So, although alarming, it is not too surprising to see that dozens of Bolton motorists have been stopped and issued on-the-spot fines by traffic police officers conducting a special road safety campaign.

Police chiefs quite rightly say they are "appalled" by the numbers of motorists spotted with children travelling unsecured in cars.

The 80 drivers fined within six days represents a near three-fold increase on the 28 motorists stopped for the same offence during a similar campaign last year.

It is such a simple law to comply with, there really is no excuse for ignoring it.

This is not just a case of introducing a meaningless law to annoy people. You only have to sit through the dozens of inquests that take place each year and hear the line "If only he/she was wearing a seat belt . . ." to realise this.

Deaths are a very real consequence of flouting the seat belt laws. They are not introduced to annoy us, but to save our lives.

As Sgt Barry Fairclough of the Bolton Traffic Unit says, it really is no excuse to say that a child will not wear the seat belt in the car. They have to wear it, there is no argument, just as parents would insist their children have to look both ways before crossing a road.