Two drivers of vehicles involved in accidents over the weekend received injuries that were directly attributable to not wearing seatbelts, according to surgeon Dr. Joseph Froncioni.

The former chairman of the Road Safety Council said one accident involved a head-on collision of two cars. One driver was wearing their seatbelt; the other was not.

"The driver wearing the seatbelt walked away with no injuries," said Dr. Froncioni. "The other driver received extremely serious injuries requiring surgery, a long hospital stay, and most likely further surgery."

However, said Dr. Froncioni, "those injuries would have been completely preventable if they were wearing a seatbelt".

The second accident, he said, was a single vehicle crash involving a car and a telephone pole. "The driver received serious facial injuries, all of which would have been prevented by a seatbelt." Although Dr. Froncioni said he was saddened to think although the new seatbelt law was in place, due to non-compliance people were still getting hurt; he was also happy that Bermudians seemed to be slowly accepting the new regulations.

"In my own, unscientific, unofficial observation," he said, "the percentage of people wearing their seatbelts has gone from five percent to 25 percent.

"That's pretty good for the first month, where we are not enforcing the law, instead relying on education and awareness."

The new seatbelt laws were introduced on January 1 of this year, requiring all those in the front seat of cars to wear seatbelts if they car is fitted with them.

Children below the age of 14 are expected to sit in the rear of cars. Infants younger than one year or weighing less than 20 pounds are to be strapped into a rear-facing child safety seat, while children older than one year are to sit in the back in a forward-facing safety seat.

Children weighing more than 30 pounds are expected to sit in a booster seat secured with an adult seatbelt. Adult passengers in the rear of vehicles do not have to wear seatbelts.

Emergency personnel, such as ambulance or fire truck drivers, are still not required by law to wear seatbelts. However, said Dr. Froncioni, he was particularly happy to see that emergency personnel are wearing their seatbelts anyway. "It is mandatory within the services," he said.

He explained that emergency personnel understood the risks they take when using their special privilege of driving at high speeds. "When they do crash, they crash with greater energy," he said.

On the other hand, said Dr. Froncioni, he was extremely disappointed to see that other professional drivers such as taxi and bus drivers were not wearing their seatbelts. Quite apart from the fact that it is the law to wear seatbelts, he said: "They are charged with the very big responsibility of carrying passengers," he said. Even in the event of a crash, he said, it is understood that the safety of passengers is the drivers' responsibility.

"An uninjured driver is in a much better position to help passengers. They have an extra responsibility to protect themselves."

With all this emphasis on obeying the law, however, Dr. Froncioni said he is still asked why the law is not being enforced until 2004.

"The wish when you introduce such a law, changing citizens' behaviour, is that people comply voluntarily," he said.

The way to get people to do so, he said, was through education, people agreeing with the law, and seeing others obey the law. "Not because they are being beaten over the head with a stick."

That way, once the law is strictly enforced, there will be less manpower needed to enforce it and less people affected by enforcement.

The year is also to allow time for people to accomodate to the new law, said Dr. Froncioni. "This is a major change in how many families travel from A to B," he said.

"We hope people will get used to that within a year."