Motorists face a £100 fine if caught without a seat belt in a nationwide police crackdown to cut road deaths this week.
On Wednesday officers will stage a 24-hour operation to catch drivers and passengers failing to belt up.
Since the start of April, Police Scotland has detected more than 18,000 people not wearing a seat belt or who failed to belt up children in their cars.
An estimated one in three fatal crash victims were not wearing a seat belt.
Inspector Grant Edward, head of road policing in Tayside, said: “It’s easy to get the impression that you are travelling safely when you are sitting comfortably inside a moving vehicle. That’s an illusion that is instantly shattered if for whatever reason the vehicle stops sharply and you are not wearing a seat belt.
“You will be left in no doubt as to how absolutely independent from the vehicle you really are as you continue to travel at around the speed the vehicle was travelling before it came to a halt. You will come to a sudden stop but only as a result of impacting with what is in front of you, be it the steering wheel, the dashboard or the windscreen.
“The consequences could be fatal and certainly far more serious than if you were wearing a seatbelt.”
Seat belts are proven to reduce fatal injury by 50% and cars’ other safety features, such as airbags, are only designed to work when the occupant is wearing a seat belt.
Drivers face a £100 fixed penalty ticket if they or any passengers under 14 are caught not wearing one.
Inspector Edward said: “It could not be clearer: seat belts save lives. Wear a seat belt and ensure all passengers and children carried in the vehicle are properly restrained.”