Locals will have to fasten their seat belts come the new year, but the regulations will not be enforced until a year later.

The one year grace period was lauded by Senators during yesterday's sitting, as were other aspects of the measures which, it was stressed, are designed to save lives and not to punish.

"It will take a major adjustment for some of us. So I'm pleased to see there is some latitude," said Independent senator Jeanette Cannonier.

As of January 1, 2003, all front seat occupants in cars, vans and trucks will have to belt up - however fines for ignoring the law will not come into affect until January 2004.

The regulations were discussed by the Lower House on November 29 and at yesterday's Senate sitting in order to raise public awareness.

Delivery drivers, emergency service workers and people in parades are exempt from the new rules - a point queried by Opposition Senator Neville Darrell who said that such people could have a greater likelihood of being involved in an accident.

Victoria Pearman, the ruling party senator who introduced the regulations said that the point would be "taken under advisement".

The law will not require people to install seat belts if their vehicles were not fitted with them, but Government is encouraging owners to investigate whether their vehicles can be retrofitted.

Adult passengers in the rear of vehicles are not required to wear seat belts.

Children under the age of 14 must be fitted with the "appropriate device", said Senator Pearman.

But she cautioned that children are safer in the rear seat if the car is equipped with an air bag.

And infants under a year old or who weigh less than 20 pounds should be restrained in the back seat in a rear facing child safety seat.

"At this age and weight a child's neck muscles are not sufficiently developed to properly support its head," Sen. Pearman said.

"A rear facing safety seat helps to support the infant in the event of a crash and helps prevent neck injuries."

Children more than a year old should be restrained in a forward facing safety seat and if a child is more than 30 pounds in weight can be placed onto a booster seat and secured with an adult seat belt, but care should be taken to ensure that the child is properly positioned, the Senator continued.

"The adult belt should cross the chest of the child not his or her throat, and the lap portion of the belt should go across the child's hips, not across his or her abdomen."

People with medical conditions can gain an exemption from the seat belt law by producing a medical certificate.

Senator Pearman noted public support for the measures but added that some people did not believe that seat belts were needed for conditions on local roads.

"Many have told their personal stories of how they were involved in accidents in which they escaped serious injury because they were wearing a seat belt. It is demonstrable that even at our relatively low speeds, wearing a seat belt can prevent injury and even save a life."

She urged the sceptics to tune in to the public awareness commercial produced by the Road Safety Council.

"This commercial demonstrates what happens when a car travelling at 30 miles per hour crashes into a stationery object," Senator Pearman said.

"The driver of the car (a crash test dummy) is not wearing a seat belt and is thrown against the steering wheel and his head smashes into the windscreen. If this had been a living person he would have suffered serious injuries."

The Senator added : "When one imagines the effects of two cars colliding head on at 30 miles per hour, we could easily expect the impact to be twice as bad."

Other senators joined her in noting that there was a similar resistance to 1970s legislation which required crash helmets and predicted that seat belt use in cars will soon become just as commonplace.