You could be hit by the force equivalent to a charging ELEPHANT if your backseat passenger isn’t wearing a seat belt during an accident
The force of an unrestrained rear passenger hitting the front seats of your car during a crash can be as much as three tonnes, potentially crushing you and the seat
DRIVERS could be crushed by the force of a charging elephant if they have an accident and their backseat passenger isn't wearing a seat belt.
More than a quarter of people killed in road accidents last year weren't wearing a seat belt - making it a high priority for road safety.
But failing to buckle up isn't only dangerous for the individual.
Drivers or other passengers who have done the right thing and put their seat belt on could be injured or even killed by others not following the legal safety requirement.
In some serious incidents, rear passengers have actually impacted and crushed the vehicle's front seats because they weren't wearing a seat belt, according to research from prestige car sales platform, .
In a 30mph crash, an unrestrained back seat passenger will hit the front seats with a force of around 30 times their own body weight – which could be as much as three tonnes, similar to that of a small elephant.
Around 40 front seat occupants die each year as a result of being hit by a backseat passenger not wearing their seat belt, with many more seriously injured.
And passengers who do survive the collision may find it difficult to claim compensation if they weren't buckled up.
It's a legal requirement for all drivers and their passengers to wear a seat belt if a vehicle is fitted with them, unless they have a medical exemption certificate.
Anyone caught not using a proper restraint faces a fixed fine of £100 or a maximum fine of £500 if you end up in front of the magistrate.
It's also the responsibility of the driver to make sure children under 14 years of age are wearing their seat belts or are in an appropriate child seat.
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A spokesperson for prestigemotorwarehouse.co.uk said: “It's shocking to see the damage to a front seat which has been impacted by a backseat passenger not wearing a seat belt.
“It doesn’t bear thinking about that this could be children in the back unrestrained and causing an impact.
“Statistics show that seat belts save lives. When used correctly, wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants by 45 per cent, and risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 per cent.”