Road Safety Bill [HL]

As regards the point about who will be penalised with penalty points, I do not think that any of us is arguing about the fact that people ought to wear seat belts. We are not. It is the sine qua non that they save lives. I am trying to extract who will be the subject of the penalty points. Will the driver be responsible for making sure that everyone in the car is wearing a seat belt? If they are not, is he or she likely to be subject to the penalty points or will it be the person not wearing the seat belt; that is, a passenger, either in the front or the back? It would be very difficult for the police or courts to bring in a judgment about penalty points, whereas it is not so difficult to impose a fixed penalty fine for not wearing a seat belt. If the noble Lord is to produce these amendments, we must have real clarity on where the penalty points will impinge.