In the first nine months of the year, 60 percent of traffic deaths and 54 percent of serious injuries in traffic accidents in the emirate of Abu Dhabi were caused due to the failure to wear seat belts, according to the latest data released by Abu Dhabi Directorate of Traffic and Patrols.

Brigadier Ahmed Al-Shehhi, Deputy Director of the Directorate, said driving without wearing a seat belt poses a potentially fatal threat.

''Wearing a seat belt reduces the severity of road accidents and shocks,'' he emphasised.

A total of 39,956 motorists were fined for not wearing a seat belt during the period under review.

According to traffic regulations, failure to wear a seat belt is punished with a fine of AED400 plus four black points on a motorist's traffic file.