In the last six years 36 drivers from across the Thames Valley have been killed after not wearing a seat belt.

A total of 880 drivers have also been prosecuted for seat belt offences in the last year.

Sgt Rob Heard, the road safety sergeant for Hampshire and Thames Valley Police, said: “The vast majority of people are wearing their seat belts, unfortunately we are still finding people who decide to take the risk and travel in a vehicle without wearing a seat belt.

“You are twice as likely to die in a collision if you are not wearing a seat belt and in the event of an collision if unrestrained, you will hit the windscreen, or the front seat in the case of a rear seat passenger at a force of 30 to 60 times your own body weight.

“Unfortunately some people are becoming complacent and feel a collision will never happen to them. People sometimes feel I am only driving locally and at a low speed so I will be ok.

“However research has shown that many collisions occur at low speed and within in few miles of home. I would always recommend to people to wear a seat belt every time you travel in a vehicle, it's not worth the risk.

“We will be checking child seats to make sure they are fitted and being used correctly. It has been identified that the majority of car seats across the UK are incorrectly fitted, where two in every three are not fitted properly.

“This may be contributing to the continuing rise in child road death and injury. If in doubt get your child seats checked by an approved fitter.”