BRITS POS – BRITS – A road safety expert has warned that a seatbelt accessory sold by a South African company encourages dangerous driving habits by allowing individuals to subvert their car’s seatbelt warning system. “Buckle Buddy” is a customizable accessory that is essentially a detached seatbelt buckle, which motorists can insert into their seatbelt clip to stop their vehicle’s occupant alert. Please note that seatbelts are mandatory on public roads in South Africa and nearly all cars are now sold with an occupant alert system that plays a repetitive warning tone when it detects a person is sitting down without wearing a seatbelt.
Buckle Buddy was invented for farmers, who typically spend a lot of time driving on private roads and dirt tracks around their land at low speeds, where seatbelts are not compulsory. The accessory allows users to clip a false seatbelt buckle into the receiver, disabling the occupant alert system even when a person is in the chair. It’s marketed as a convenience tool that is also useful when a person wants to place other objects on the passenger seat, such as a pet or heavy bag, which can still set off the pressure sensor the seat uses to detect when a person is sitting down. However, the tool is now receiving backlash from road safety experts, who argue that it can be misused by individuals to ignore their seatbelt warning while driving on public roads. Mike Scriven, the founder of Buckle Buddy South Africa, recently appeared on 702 to discuss the product. He explained that he grew up on a farm in Limpopo and that one of the most annoying things he experienced was having to constantly take his seatbelt on and off while driving around, as he would frequently hop out to open and close gates and attend to various tasks. The buckle buddy is only meant to be used by motorists driving on private tracks, and is not intended for public roads where seatbelt use is compulsory. Scriven stated that the product is explicitly marketed for farmers and that a disclaimer is included with every purchase, warning motorists not to use the buckle buddy on public roads.
