Parents, male drivers and mature drivers are the top three groups being targeted by a new National Safety Council (NSC) seatbelt-wearing campaign.
According to the NSC, 80 per cent of back-seat passengers (mostly children), 48 per cent of men and a large proportion of mature drivers never wear a seatbelt.
Speaking at the announcement of the "Clicked Yet?" campaign today, NSC chief executive Mr Pat Costello said: "Seatbelts are proven lifesavers".
He said: "in a head-on collision, at speeds as low as 40 kph, drivers or passengers not wearing seatbelts will almost certainly be killed or seriously injured."
The NSC claims Irish seatbelt wearing rates lag far behind that of many European countries, which are often as high as 85 per cent.
Today's awareness campaign aims to encourage the 43 per cent of Irish motorists who, according to National Road Authority statistics don’t wear a seatbelt, to become more safety conscious.
The Clicked Yet? campaign is to run from the May bank holiday weekend through the summer and will encourage motorists to use good road safety practice on all car journeys.
The NSC says higher rates of seatbelt wearing could save up to 7,000 lives annually across the EU.