‘Mate, I'm only going down the road and anyway my car's got an airbag and I'm a safe-as driver, I don't need to wear my bloody seatbelt'. Sound familiar?

When it comes to not wearing your seatbelt you can guarantee police have heard every excuse under the sun. But if you look at the research you'll see there's no excuse for not buckling up.

Police are concerned by the extremely high number of people being killed in crashes who aren't wearing seatbelts.

Data released by police recently show 56 unrestrained motorists were killed in crashes on Bay of Plenty roads from 2012-2016, and 44 on Waikato roads.

While across the country, the number of unrestrained motorists killed on New Zealand roads has nearly doubled in the past two years.

Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff says this is an unacceptable statistic and for that reason all police districts will be putting extra focus on ensuring seatbelts are worn this year.

'Almost a third of people who die on our roads are unrestrained vehicle occupants and these are all deaths which are entirely preventable. We are at a loss to understand why there has been such a massive increase in people not wearing their seatbelts.

'No part of New Zealand is immune, crashes occur on our roads from one end of the country to the other and anyone who chooses not to wear a seatbelt only increases their risk of injury or death if they end up in one.”

Unrestrained vehicle occupant deaths 2012-2016. Image: Police

Unrestrained occupant deaths by year. Image: Police

In 2016, the seatbelt wearing rate for drivers and adult front seat passengers was 96.5 percent. This has fallen from 97.1 per cent in 2014 and is the first time there has been a reduction in wearing rate since 1996

Also of concerning police are the number of females being killed in crashes while not wearing a seatbelt, which has increased substantially in the last five years.

'If people don't listen up and get the message in 2017, we will likely see more than 100 people lose their lives and thousands more be injured completely needlessly. All this can be prevented by taking two seconds to put on your seatbelt, it's that easy.”

A seat belt reduces the risk of death risk by 50 per cent in the front seat and 75 per cent for back seat passengers.

It's a no-brainer, says Dave.

'Let's all be sure to ‘buckle up buttercup' every time you get into a vehicle. Make sure your friends and family do the same so we can avoid more preventable deaths occurring on our roads.”

Proportion of deaths by gender: Police

Percentage of vehicle occupants killed who were unrestrained by gender. Image: Police