The look of concern on the tots’ faces says it all.

The car in which teddy was travelling had to brake suddenly, sending him flying forward. Now he is lying on the floor and has hurt his head. His owner, Billy, is upset, and realises that his little toy bear would have been okay had he been safely strapped into his car seat.

‘Teddy Takes A Tumble’ forms the basis of a special session delivered to nursery-age children, to teach them the basics of how to stay safe while travelling in cars.

“It is a nursery-friendly story about a boy who has a favourite teddy, but on this particular occasion he does not strap him in when making a journey in the car, and a cat runs out into the road causing his mum to brake sharply,” explains Bradford Council road safety officer Kim Hart.

“We use the session to plant a little seed. Young children sometimes try to resist being strapped into a car seat or try to struggle out of them. We want them to see that car seats are not a big, bad thing.”

Last month, Bradford Royal Infirmary ’s accident and emergency consultant Mr Tony Shelton urged people across the district to wear their seatbelts after a family who weren’t wearing theirs were brought into A&E following a car accident. He said he was surprised that the group had escaped with nothing more than cuts and bruises.

“I see young children not strapped into their safety seats despite there being widespread public health messages telling parents that this is the law and the safest means of travel for their young ones,” he said.

The part-Government-supported Road Safety GB Good Egg Initiative, whose results were released last year, checked more than 2,300 car seats in local authorities across the country.

In Bradford, one clinic in Girlington found 54 per cent of seats were incorrectly fitted, and a second in Keighley 38 per cent. Both clinics found ten car seats with major faults. Across the UK, major faults affected 461 seats, or 20 per cent of vehicles, meaning that at least one-in-five children are being transported in seats with major faults.

Failure to use car seats, and child car seats, as well as seats used incorrectly, is a “big problem” in Bradford district, says Sue Snoddy, Bradford Council’s casualty reduction and road safety partnership manager.

“It is quite frightening. It is, after all, the responsibility of parents to set a good example so that their children know what to do.”

This year, members of Bradford Council’s road safety team have been trained to check car seats, and will be holding special sessions across the district.

The problem does not lie solely with younger children. Adds road safety officer Katie Hammond: “We have had incidents in which teachers have asked older children of ten or 11 to put on belts for minibus journeys, and they have not known how to.”

Drivers are responsible for seatbelt wearers up the age of 14.

Across the UK, seatbelts save more than 2,000 lives every year. If a child is restrained they are 90 per cent less likely to be killed. An unrestrained child can be killed in an impact of 5mph. Says Sue: “Without a seatbelt, in a 30mph crash, you can be thrown forwards at 30 to 60 times your body weight – a person weighing 10st can become 300st, the weight of a baby elephant.”

The Council’s road safety team visits between 60 and 80 primary schools every year. Their car-safety sessions are hard-hitting, without being too disturbing. The authority works with a range of partners including the fire service, police and health agencies. An officer speaks to secondary schools, to children from 12 to the pre-driver age group.

Says Katie: “We have a fold-out car and we put three passengers in it. The mother is wearing a seatbelt, but her two sons are not. The car crashes and we ask the children to tell us what they think happens. If they want to tell us they have died or been left brain-damaged they can – and they do.”

A tape is then played, with the boys’ mother speaking about what happened to her sons, one of whom died. “We stress that it is not real, and then ask questions about what should have been done.

“Children cannot prevent their parents from not wearing a seatbelt, but they can put one on themselves.

“Sometimes a child will tell us that their mum and dad don’t wear seatbelts, or that they would like a car seat but their parents won’t get one,” says Kate. “We suggest the child speaks to them, telling them that if they love him they should fit one. Sometimes all it needs is a little tug at the heartstrings.”

In schools where it is thought to be beneficial, sessions for parents are also held.