Driver buckles up beer, not child

An Australian motorist has been fined for putting a seatbelt around a case of beer instead of a five-year-old passenger.

Police who pulled over the man's car on the Ross highway, near the outback town of Alice Springs, found the child sitting unrestrained in the back of the vehicle.

Constable Wayne Burnett said he and a colleague were carrying out routine searches on vehicles entering Aboriginal communities, where alcohol is banned under a government crackdown as part of an attempt to stamp out child abuse.

"I really haven't seen something like this before," Burnett said. "Sure, we get beer out of vehicles that is being taken into restricted areas but this is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child."

Burnett issued the driver with a $750 fine for failing to ensure a child was wearing a seatbelt and for driving a car that was unregistered and uninsured.

Four adults were in the car, two in the front seats and two in the back. The carton of beer, which contained 30 bottles, was strapped in between the two adults in the back. "The child was sitting in the lump in the centre, unrestrained," Burnett added.

Superintendent Sean Parnell, of Alice Springs police department, said: "This serves as a timely reminder to all drivers to ensure they wear seatbelts and ensure, as is their responsibility, that all passengers in their vehicle are secured in the appropriate manner."