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Safety Belts

June 2006

Melissa Savage, Program Principal

he National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for all Americans between the ages of 3 and 33. The most effective way to reduce this tragic toll is to increase the number of drivers and passengers who buckle up on every trip, day or night. During the last few decades, traffic-related deaths and injuries have declined, in large part due to a substantial increase in safety belt use. Between 1983 and 2005, safety belt use in the United States rose from 14 percent to 82 percent of occupants, an increase that has been attributed to the passage and active enforcement of safety belt use laws. Safety belts saved the lives of an estimated 15,434 passengers older than age 4 in 2004, and more than 195,000 lives have been saved since 1975.

Although this is good news, more than 42,000 people die and nearly 3 million are injured in motor vehicle crashes, representing $230 billion in economic costs each year. One effective tool to reduce fatalities and injuries from crashes is to encourage safety belt use. Numerous studies have shown that strong safety belt laws that are consistently and vigorously enforced have a positive effect on safety belt use and, therefore, lead to a reduction in injuries and deaths. In 2004, an estimated 55 percent of the people who died in crashes in passenger vehicles were not buckled up. If all passengers over age 4 had worn wore safety belts in 2004, 21,273 lives could have been saved, according to NHTSA.

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