The majority of drivers in the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire area are law abiding when it comes to wearing seatbelts and using mobile phones.
The latest observations results indicate a combined 99.1% seatbelt wearing rate and a 0.8% mobile phone usage rate.
The surveys are conducted bi-annually. Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said survey staff conducted observations for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.
According to Melanie the seatbelt wearing rate is higher than the state average of 98%. The best location was the Parkes Highway recording 100% compliance in the afternoon. The worst location was the Forbes Urban locatin with a 96% wearing rate in the afternoon with 14 people observed un-restrained.
“While our seatbelt wearing rate is better than the state average, it is disappointing to report that 59 people were observed not wearing a seatbelt,” Melanie said.
The combined mobile phone usage rate was 0.8%, with three survey locations recording 0%: Condobolin Highway, Parkes Urban and Parkes Highway. Forbes Urban was the worst location with a 4.2% usage rate as 13 people used a phone whilst driving.