The 2009 seat belt safety facts reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) state that 84 percent of drivers used seat belts. This is a 1 percent increase over the previous year. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the major reasons of death for Americans 1 to 34 years of age are motor vehicle accidents. Child restraint and seatbelt laws are intended to get more people to wear seat belts and reduced the number of injuries and fatalities.
Facts
One of the mandates of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 was the requirement that automobile makers began installing belts as a standard element for all vehicles. However, this regulation did not contain any provisions requiring vehicle occupants to wear seat belts. States have the main responsibility of enforcing seatbelt laws. Since 1994, there have been ongoing nation-wide campaigns conducted at the state level, such as "Click It or Ticket."
These initiatives are, along with raising public awareness, credited with increasing seat belt use from 58 to 84 percent. People involved in vehicle crashes, but who were not using seatbelts at the time, cost about $18 billion annually in terms of health, insurance and other expenses. As a group, 86 percent of women are more likely to buckle up compared to 81 percent of men.
State Enforcement
The seat belt laws differ according to state. Factors, such as age of the passenger and the seat they occupy may have a bearing on how the law is enforced. Each jurisdiction is categorized as a primary or secondary state. Primary states (30) permit officers to pull motorists over for not wearing seat belts. Other infractions are not necessary. Other states (17) operate under secondary law, permit law enforcement to stopped motorists only if there is at least one other violation. The State of New Hampshire only requires people under the age of 18 to wear seat belts.
Child Restraint Laws
Children 14 years and younger suffered 168,000 vehicle-related injuries in 2008; in this same year, 968 children were killed in traffic accidents. The child restraint regulations for protecting them vary widely from state to state. Basically, they require young children to travel in approved seats or restraint devices. In the U.S., it is estimated that nearly 100 percent of infants, and 93 percent of small children, were "buckled up" when traveling. However, safety concerns remain regarding the incorrect use of equipment, such as seat belts, child restraint and safety seats.
Effects
In May 2008, the Journal of Health Economics published a paper that asserted that seat belt enforcement laws were responsible for a 45 to 80 percent increase in the number of high school students who were using seat belts. This was especially true in primary states. The paper went on to say that deaths due to traffic accidents dropped and injuries were reduced by 8 to 9 percent. Increasingly more aggressive enforcement of seat belt laws has led to individuals and organizations coming out against such campaigns. Many believe that valuable resources are being loss, and the state's efforts instead should be committed to raising people awareness of using seat belts.
Tips
Here are a few seatbelt safety tips: 1) Perform a periodic inspection of your seatbelts looking for any breaks and looseness and to ensure that are working properly. 2) For maximum protection, you should use both lap belts, and the shoulder harness. 3) Toddlers from birth to 1year of age and weighing at least 20 lbs. are required to be secured in a convertible or rear-facing seat.
Tags: seat belts, seat belt, wear seat, wear seat belts, belt laws