Drivers could soon be landed with penalty points in a major change to driving laws. This year is shaping up to be one of the most pivotal in recent times for motoring laws, with several proposals currently under consideration, including tougher drink-driving limits and health checks for older motorists.

However, one key proposal could see drivers handed penalty points for not wearing a seatbelt. At present, the only punishment is a fine. The Government is running a consultation to gather public viewpoints on the matter, and will accept responses until May.

Under the changes, drivers caught without a seatbelt or those who fail to ensure a child is using the correct safety restraint would receive three penalty points, in a bid to reduce sealbelt related fatalities.

At present, offenders only face a £100 fixed penalty notice, rising to a maximum £500 fine if the case goes to court.

“Failure to wear a seat belt is not currently an endorsable offence; that means the offender does not incur penalty points,” the Government explained in the consultation document, updated on February 16.

It said in general, seatbelt wearing rates were good. However, there was a “substantial problem” associated with the minority of people who choose not to wear one.

The latest road casualty statistics for 2024 showed that a quarter of car occupant fatalities in reported road collisions were not wearing a seatbelt. The average over the prior five years was 24%.

This indicated “quite starkly” that car occupants who do not wear a seatbelt were disproportionately likely to be killed in road collisions, said the Government.

A report by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) made a primary recommendation to the Government in 2020 to impose penalty points for seatbelt wearing offences.

The Government said it accepted this could “go some way towards reducing the number of car occupants who are killed each year in collisions”.

“That is why we are seeking the public’s view,” it added. The consultation period began on January 7 and will run until May 11 this year. The public can respond via an online form, email, or by post.

A summary of responses, including the next steps, will be published within three months of the consultation closing, meaning the public can expect an update by August.

In 2023, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was caught without a seatbelt, and apologised for a “brief error of judgment”. Conservative MP for Blackpool Scott Benton suggested police were wasting their time by “looking into” it – a comment that strongly contrasted opinions from safety groups, which said it set a bad example to the public.

Safety groups hope this new change will help increase the uptake of seatbelt wearing among the small minority of people who choose not to, to reduce deaths in road collisions.

Drivers are responsible for children under 14, so they must ensure the child is either in the correct car seat or wearing a seatbelt if they are 12 or 13 years old, or younger and taller than 135cm.