Dear Minister,
I know this submission is a few days late so I will keep it quite short.
A client who is also a friend is having an issue with seatbelt exemptions. He is a little person who has an obvious permanent condition. He will not get taller.
If he wears a seatbelt just around his waist, it may cut him in half if he has a crash. If he wears a standard over his should, it may take his head off if he has a crash.
He has made contact with our State MP in NSW, but he has received fines from other states. It is a nightmare to have them reverse or to get ahead of the issue. He has been told he has to attend doctors every year and file forms in each State to retain a seatbelt exemption.
I understand that some conditions are temporary, and these can be recorded as such by doctors provide medical certificates. However, there is no reason why a permanent condition cannot or should not be recorded as such on a driver’s licence. For example, I have a vision impairment requiring me to wear glasses or contact lenses whenever driving. This is marked on my licence. Why can’t there be a letter for a permanent seatbelt exemption so those with a disability that does not support the wearing of seatbelts when driving, or as a passenger, can not be overly burdened by annual doctor appointments and annual filing of forms in States you may drive in?
I thought it should be included in the Federal disability legislation as an exemption the States must allow for, since the States seem to include slight differences, such as in the Australian Road Rules that are not exactly the same in each State.
I hope you can assist to help resolve this problem affecting those with a permanent disability who cannot wear a seatbelt.