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British police issued Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a fine on Friday for riding in a car without wearing his seat belt in order to film a clip for social media.
Sunak, who apologised on Thursday for what he called a “brief error of judgement”, filmed a video in the back seat of his car while travelling in the north of England, without wearing a seat belt.
“That was a brief error of judgement. The PM removed his seatbelt to film a small clip. He fully accepts this was a mistake and apologises about it,” Sunak’s spokesperson said. “The Prime Minister believes everyone should wear a seatbelt,” the spokesperson added. In the UK, passengers caught failing to wear a seatbelt while in a car, unless covered by a valid medical exemption, can be given an on-the-spot fine of 100 pounds, increasing to 500 pounds if the case goes to court.
Sunak filmed the video while seated in the back seat of a moving car to promote his government’s new Levelling Up Fund announcements to fund over 100 projects around the country. Police motorbikes could be seen escorting his car as he addressed the camera. In England, passengers aged 14 and over are responsible for ensuring they wear a seat belt in cars, vans and other goods vehicles if one is fitted and drivers are responsible for passengers under 14.
Exemptions include having a doctor’s certificate for a medical reason, or being in a vehicle used for a police, fire or other rescue service. The government recently also considered toughening seatbelt rules to ensure drivers not wearing them could also receive penalty points on their licence. Latest Department for Transport figures suggest around 30 per cent of people killed in cars on the roads in the UK in 2021 were not in a seatbelt.
