Seatbelts

Then read all of this.

STATISTICS: (courtesy of buckleupamerica.org)

• Sixty percent of teens age 16-18 who died in motor vehicle crashes in 2002 were not wearing safety belts. [Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Web-based Encyclopedia, 2003]

• Young people are at risk of not buckling up. In 2002, 64 percent of 16 to 20-year-olds killed or seriously injured were not wearing a safety belt. [Fatality Analysis Reporting System, Web-based

Encyclopedia, 2003]

• Men—especially younger men—are less likely to buckle up. In 2002, 68 percent of the 18- to 34-year-old male drivers and passengers killed or severely injured in crashes were not wearing safety belts. Fifty-two percent of the women age 18 to 34 who were killed or severely injured in crashes were not buckled up. [Fatality Analysis Reporting System, Web-based Encyclopedia, 2003]

• In the past 26 years, safety belts have prevented 135,000 fatalities and 3.8 million injuries. That has saved $585 billion in medical and other costs. If everyone had used safety belts every time they were in a vehicle during that period, nearly 315,000 deaths and 5.2 million injuries could have been prevented and $913 billion in costs saved. [NHTSA, The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes 2000]

• Seventy-one percent of people injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2002, were unrestrained. [Fatality Analysis Reporting System, Web-based Encyclopedia, 2003]

• Pickup truck drivers are the least likely group to buckle up. Only 69 percent of pickup truck drivers use safety belts, well below the national average of 79 percent. [NHTSA, National Occupant Protection Use Survey, June 2003]

• A passenger who doesn’t buckle up is more likely have a brain injury in a crash than an unbuckled driver. [Kaplan, Lewis. MCP Hahnemann University Hospital. Philadelphia. 2002]

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African Americans up to age 14 and are the second leading cause of death for African Americans age 15 to 24. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 1998]

• Safety belt use in rural areas was 73 percent in 2002; it consistently lags the national average. [NHTSA, National Occupant Protection Use Survey, June 2002]

• Of the 37,772 vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2002, 67 percent were not wearing a safety belt. [Fatality Analysis Reporting System, Web-based Encyclopedia, 2003]

• Make sure your safety belt fits right. It should sit low across the hips without riding up onto your stomach. The shoulder part of the belt should be across the collarbone and chest, not against the neck or face.

• Safety belts are the single most effective way to protect people in crashes. From 1975 to 2001, safety belts are estimated to have saved 147,246. [NHTSA, National Center for Statistics and Analysis. "Estimating the Lives Saved by Safety Belts and Airbags," 2002]

• Safety belts are the best defense against traffic crashes. A person is twice as likely to die or sustain serious injury in a crash if unbelted. (DMV)

• Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejection from a vehicle in a crash. (DMV)

• Airbags do not replace the need for safety belts. When used with safety belts, airbags further reduce the risk of death or injury in the event of a crash. (DMV)

• Safety belts hold the driver in place, helping the driver maintain control of the car during a collision. The lap belt should fit low and snug across the hips while the shoulder belt keeps the driver from pitching forward into the steering wheel, dashboard and windshield. (DMV)

• Treatment costs for motorists not buckled in a safety belt are 2 to 7 times higher than for those who are buckled. (DMV)

• Not only is it much safer to wear a safety belt, in Virginia it’s the law. (DMV)

• Safety belts are the best defense against traffic crashes. A person is twice as likely to die or sustain serious injury in a crash if unbelted. (DMV)

• Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejection from a vehicle in a crash.

• TRAFFIC CRASHES ARE THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF TEENAGERS, AGES 16-20.

BUCKLEUP! EVERY RIDE, EVERY TIME.

~G

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