Cyrus Is Backed By Travel Safety Expert

A travel safety expert is furious Miley Cyrus has faced such heavy criticism for failing to wear a seatbelt in new concert movie Hannah Montana/miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds Concert Tour, insisting it's common for filmmakers to avoid such details.

The scene features the 15-year-old singer/actress and her country singer dad Billy Ray Cyrus in the back of a Range Rover - with neither of them wearing their seatbelts.

And the pair was heavily criticised by U.s. watchdog Consumer Reports for setting a bad example to Cyrus' young fans as a result of their lack of car safety.

But lead investigator of a road accident study, Heather Jacobsen, insists the whole affair has been blown out of proportion.

She says, "It is the norm for characters in movies to not wear a seatbelt."

Family films typically give seatbelts more attention. However, a 1997 study by Michigan State University named Dead Man Walking - starring Sean Penn as a rapist facing execution - as one of the most seatbelt-friendly movies, depicting buckled-up drivers in five of the film's six driving scenes.