Seatbelts And Car Accidents Article

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Seatbelts and Car Accidents

Close to 40,000 people die every year in car accidents. Traffic collisions remain the primary cause of death for people under the age of 35. As tragic and sudden as these incidents are, people’s failure to wear a seatbelt contributes to more deaths than any other safety-related traffic behavior.

Author: Sara Goldstein

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Over 63% of people who are killed in car accidents are not wearing seatbelts.

It seems simple, but wearing a seatbelt is still the most effective safety precaution a person can take to save lives and reduce the amount of severe injuries that occur on America’s highways.
The Cost of Not Wearing a Seatbelt

Seatbelts save around 9,500 lives every year. It is estimated that if 90% of Americans buckled up, over 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries would be prevented annually. The cost of not wearing a seatbelt is also an economic concern. Everyone pays for people who fail to buckle up: higher taxes, higher insurance costs, and higher health care are all inevitable results of driver carelessness.
Consider the following facts:

• On average, hospital costs for unbelted car accident victims is 50% higher than for belted victims
• Each American pays around $580 a year toward car accident expenses
• If 90% of Americans used a seatbelt, we would save $8.8 billion every year

Young people – especially males between the ages of 16 to 25 – are the least likely to use a seatbelt, simply because they don’t think they will get in an accident. Despite teenagers’ infamous belief in their own invincibility, they are the highest-risk drivers in the nation, engaging in the most speeding, drunk driving, and distracted driving.

Putting Seatbelt Use in Perspective
At 30 miles an hour, the impact from a car accident when you are not wearing a seatbelt would feel the same as if you fell three stories. With this in mind, car accidents that occur at 60+ miles per hour can be incredibly devastating. Seatbelts are designed to help minimize the level of impact your body experiences, helping you walk away from accidents with the least amount of injury possible.

People come up with a variety of excuses for not wearing
seatbelts. Below are some rebuttals to these popular excuses:

• I’m a good driver. I won’t get into an accident. – You may be a good driver, but that doesn’t mean a bad driver won’t hit you.
• I’m just going shopping. – This is actually the best time to wear a seatbelt, as 80% of traffic deaths occur within 25 miles of a person’s home, and at less than 40 mph.
• I have an airbag. I don’t need a seatbelt, too. – Airbags increase the effectiveness of seatbelts by 40%, but they do not protect against side impacts. They were never meant to be used in place of seatbelts.
• I can just brace myself. – Even if you had the chance to try, the arm or leg you use to brace yourself would shatter with the force of the impact.

If you live in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington D.C. and would like more information about car accident safety, please visit the website of the experienced car accident lawyers at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.

About Author

Chaikin & Sherman, P.C. focuses on seeking compensation for victims who have suffered serious personal injury or death resulting from negligence, medical malpractice, motor vehicle collisions, tractor trailer accidents, or defective products. Whatever the injury may be, we seek to obtain maximum compensation for our clients, including compensation for the emotional pain and suffering that accompanies serious injury. We also handle class action lawsuits and consumer fraud litigation. The law firm enjoys the highest rating (AV) from the Martindale-Hubbell organization. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Contact us today for more information and to schedule a free and confidential consultation with one of our lawyers.

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Seatbelts and Car Accidents