#Seatbeltchallenge: Car safety challenge hijacked by X-rated photos

A hashtag created by a youth safety organisation to remind young drivers of the importance of driving with a seatbelt has been hijacked by women sharing risque photos of their breasts. Instagram page, Seatbelt Challenge, was created in 2016 by a woman named Dania Safa in memory of one of her close friends who died in an accident due to not wearing a seat belt.
“Buckle up and selfie with the hashtag #SeatBeltChallenge under, in order to raise awareness of the importance of a seatbelt,” the page’s bio reads.
But while the page posts selfie’s taken by people who want to share an important message, the hashtag has been flooded with raunchy photos.
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The images all show women who have lifted or pulled their tops down to expose their breasts, but then protect their modesty by positioning the seatbelt over their nipple.
Many of the photos are extremely revealing, while some have more of a cheeky feel.
But there are now almost 3,000 snaps that appear under the hashtag – and most of them are of partially topless women.
Originally the hashtag was used by people, including some emergency service workers, to share selfies of themselves wearing a seat belt in their car.
It appears however to have been taken over by Instagram page Mechanic Bible who regularly repost the racy images shared under the hashtag.
Other posts on the page – which is a business account for an eBay car parts store – show women in explicit poses to promote its products.
While many of the women who share the photos originally do so with the message “safety first”, it’s not clear if the message is sinking in.
It seems most don’t seem to mind, with the snaps attracting comments that state the women are “making safety sexy”.
Some guys however appear to be trolling the risque take on the challenge, sharing shirtless snaps of themselves strapped into their cars with witty captions.
“Seatbelts save lives,” one guy wrote, alongside the hashtag “#chesthairsrock”.
Thankfully there are still some people sharing nice, wholesome seatbelt content – such as this social media user from Melbourne who posted a picture of their cavoodle alongside the hashtag.
Wearing a seat belt does not prevent a crash, but does affect injury. Wearing a properly adjusted seat belt reduces the risk of fatal or serious injury by up to 50 per cent, the Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety states.
In Australia, approximately 20 per cent of drivers and passengers killed in crashes (where seat belt use is known) are not wearing seat belts. On average around 150 people die nationally per year from this cause.