PARENTS are being urged to ensure their children "belt up in the back" in a new North-East road safety drive.
A month-long campaign is under way in County Durham to reduce the number of child passengers killed or seriously injured while travelling in cars.
This month, a series of hard-hitting radio advertisements, backed by a bus poster campaign, will be heard on local radio stations in the region.
Posters carrying the message will adorn the back of 40 buses, while 70 public transport vehicles will carry child seat belt posters on inside panels.
Last year in County Durham, 365 children were killed or seriously injured in road accidents, 116 of them travelling in cars.
Alan Kennedy, the county council's new senior road safety officer, said the onus was on parents to ensure child passengers belt up. "At just 20 mph an unrestrained child will be thrown from their seat at 20mph, and their weight will increase by more than 15 times.
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