Seat belt fines are increasing drastically

Is there anyone else who doesn’t fasten their seat belt in the car? – I could rightfully ask, the police statistics obtained by Vezess give an astonishing answer without exaggeration. The National Police Headquarters (ORFK), the fines are scattered in the hundreds of thousands just because of this, this year the annual amount imposed could be several billion forints. In addition, the number of penalties increases drastically every year.

In the first quarter alone, the police imposed sanctions in 60,101 cases for failure to use a seat belt, and in the whole of last year 192,630 times, according to the data obtained by our editors from the ORFK.

The data of the last five years are thought-provoking in themselves, especially the rate of increase. There are already more fines in the first three months of 2024 than in the entire year five years ago.

This year’s number of penalties means that on average They were fined 675 times every single day in the months of January, February and March, the police are there just for that.

The amount of the fine is also constantly increasing

More and more penalties naturally mean that the total amount of fines imposed is higher every year. Last year it already exceeded HUF 2.1 billion, and from the data for the first quarter of 2024, it follows that, assuming roughly even fines from month to month, this year it may exceed HUF three billion. Two years ago, the annual amount was less than one billion.

People who do not wear seat belts in their cars can receive various fines from the police, the difference between them is quite large. According to the location of the violation, the penalty is HUF 26,000 on highways and highways, HUF 19,500 outside a populated area and HUF 13,000 within a populated area.

It is important that the police punish the person who is not wearing a seatbelt, that is, “the person who can be held responsible for committing the violation – driver, passenger – must pay the fine. It is therefore important to highlight that the person who fails to use a seat belt is always responsible for not using it, be it the driver or passenger,” says the ORFK.

Passengers must also buckle up. And not to avoid fines (Image: RgStudio/Getty Images)

Not only the police, the camera will also spot you if you are not wearing a seatbelt

Recently, one of our readers told us that he received a fine from the police based on the use of the VÉDA, known as a speeding device, but not for speeding. The device took a photo that it was not connected. He drove within the speed limit, but was still fined for wearing a seat belt. Since VÉDA’s recordings can be reviewed by motorists, he also checked it, and it was proven that he was indeed not connected, so he drove.

We asked the ORFK how many fines have been issued in recent years, when fine checks were sent to drivers who obeyed the speed limit due to seat belts based on VÉDA records. According to their answer, unfortunately “they do not have such statistical data”.

On the other hand, they were already able to say how many on-the-spot fines were imposed on drivers not wearing seat belts during “traffic enforcement measures”.

We also show the amount of fines imposed on an annual basis in these years. The average number of fines per penalty is lower than on-the-spot fines, since the majority of them were typically received by violators in residential areas, highway stops are obviously not typical for safety reasons.

The question arises: if they know that the vehicles after stopping how many fines are scattered, and they know, in the same period altogether how many times have they been fined for wearing belts, why don’t they know how many violators have been sent checks based on VÉDA’s photos.
The explanation is simple, in addition to these two fine options, there is also a third one: a combination of them. According to the ORFK, in such cases, “the VÉDA system recognizes the violation, which sends a notification to the police officer connected to the system and using the device, who stops the vehicle and conducts the measure.”

In practice, this typically looks like a mobile device (which is in a police car or standing on a stand) monitors the vehicles passing in front of it, and then sends a signal to the police officer standing a few hundred meters ahead, who stops the driver. It was recorded by VÉDA, but the result is an on-the-spot fine. Of course, the ORFK could also have statistics on this.

He also watches the seat belt (PHOTO: ORFK)

Hundreds dead

The use of a seat belt is in everyone’s own interest, anyone who does not fasten himself is playing with his life. According to ORFK statistics, more than ten thousand people have been injured in traffic accidents because of this in the last decade in Hungary.

We only asked them for data from the last three years, the table below shows the number of people who did not use a belt and suffered injuries that took more than eight days to heal.

“In the case of fatal road traffic accidents, it can be stated that in recent years, 20-25 percent of the people who died in accidents did not use their seat belts,” the police answered our question. This means about a hundred deaths every year.