Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister since last autumn, has made an art out of appearing dynamic day and night – while always facing the citizen.

So he had himself filmed as he raced through the English countryside to distribute regional grants.

He turned his upper body to the side, gesticulated engagingly and almost crawled into the camera, which was filming him from the side.

Unfortunately, the Instagram video was shot on the back seat of his company car, and under British law he should have been sitting there very differently: strapped in tightly, his body rigidly aligned in the direction of travel.

Now the police in Lancashire are investigating a violation of the seat belt obligation.

Sunak didn't even try to sugarcoat the matter or justify it as part of his flexibilization agenda.

His predecessor Boris Johnson would probably have defended himself by saying that to his knowledge he had not broken any rules.

Sunak, on the other hand, spoke remorsefully of a "brief misjudgment" and apologized.

Through a spokesman, he said that he absolutely supports the obligation to wear seatbelts, at least he "believes that everyone should wear a seatbelt".

Now he faces a fine of up to 500 pounds, which as a billionaire – his wife is the daughter of one of the richest entrepreneurs in India – will not rob him of his sleep.

The small border crossing for Sunak should also have no political consequences.

Even professed opponents of the Tory turned up their noses not at him, but at the overzealous police.

She should rather turn to more relevant tasks, it said on Friday on social media.

Only the Labor Party described it as "very serious" if Sunak were to receive another fine.

The first was delivered to him because he was briefly in the room when Johnson was presented with a birthday cake in the Cabinet Room during the 2020 lockdown.