31,963 Reasons To Wear Your Seat Belt

Seatbelts increase your chances of surviving an accident by 45%, says the NHTSA. However, in spite of this and many other reasons to wear your seat belt, 55% of the 31,963 vehicle occupants that died in car accidents during 2004 chose not to wear one.

In fact, a recent NHTSA study shows that 48 million stubborn drivers, that's 18% of all drivers in the country, still refuse to buckle up. Most offenders fall under three categories: young males, those in rural areas and drivers of pick-up trucks. But if they don't want to do it on their own, local governments will make them buckle up.

As part of a new version of the Click it or Ticket campaign, officers are aggressively enforcing safety belt laws and they're not shy about giving out tickets.

On its first edition, this successful campaign was credited for the reduction of car accident deaths in several states like Illinois, where figures dropped to a 60-year low.

Research shows that in spite of new car technologies and protection gear, seat belts are still the number one safety device. This life-saving gadget works through a complex extend and retract system.

Scientifically speaking, a seat belt stops your inertia. What this means is that, if a car is going 80 miles per hour and stops abruptly, a seat belt will keep you from hitting the windshield of the car at 80 miles per hour.

Email to a friend

Copyright 2008 BuyingAdvice.com, INC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.

Search By Car Type