PLAYING TRICKS: Nick Graham thinks this T-shirt is the answer to getting away with not wearing a seatbelt, but police say unrestrained motorists are only putting themselves at risk.

A man who is "against wearing seatbelts" thinks he has the solution to driving unrestrained without getting caught by police.

Nick Graham's idea of T-shirts with seatbelt prints was floated on the Facebook group Christchurch Police Check Points, which was set up this month to warn people of "cop stop" locations.

But police say Graham is missing the point - wearing real seatbelts saves lives.

The organiser of the group, which has 750 members, asks people to post online whenever they see or hear of a "cop stop".

Police said yesterday they had no issue with the group because it increased their visibility.

However, Graham's T-shirt proposal - a copy of that which appeared in China last month - was posted to the page last night, has raised eyebrows.

He claims to be getting 5000 T-shirts with seatbelts printed on the front in the next fortnight so people can drive unrestrained with out being busted by police.

''I am against being forced into wearing a seat belt! Enforcement is such a bad way to go about things! To much dam pc and revenue collecting that's going on in this country (sic).''

Graham said the people he had approached to print the T-shirts liked the idea and he hoped to arrange a deal where he could get them for free.

''There will be all sorts of colours accept the belt will remain black! (sic)''

Some members of the group are already queuing up to buy the T-shirts, but others are more sceptical.

''Cheaper to just wear a seatbelt aye? The price you pay could be your own,'' member Sam Cottier posted.

Police are disappointed at the concept and point to statistics that show motorists are 60 per cent safer in a crash if they are wearing a seatbelt.

Canterbury District road policing manager Inspector Al Stewart said this morning: ''They need to think about keeping themselves safe while they are driving. At the end of the day the only person they are putting in danger by not wearing their seatbelt are themselves.''

The fine for not wearing a seatbelt is $150.

Graham also claims to be creating a mobile application where people can report checkpoints and receive alerts about them.

He wouldn't talk yesterday because "my team and I don't want the police to know about our clever systems at this point".

Graham declined to comment this morning.

* Correspondence on this article is now closed.