Road Wise Occupant Protection Passenger Safety Texas Cooperative Extension in cooperation with Texas Department of Transportation

Occupant Protection Why Should We Buckle Up? Seat belt and child safety seat use can produce big payoffs, unmatched by any other single preventative in the number of lives that can be saved, injuries that can be avoided, and economic savings that can be realized.

Occupant Protection Safety belt facts: Properly worn safety belts reduce risk of moderate to critical injury by 50%. Unbuckled crash victims have 50% higher medical costs. Society pays 85% of medical costs of crash victims. Studies have compared the injuries of buckled and unbuckled victims of motor vehicle crashes. Some interesting facts about safety belt use are: Properly worn safety belts reduce risk of moderate to critical injury by 50%. Unbuckled crash victims have 50% higher medical costs. Society pays 85% of all medical costs of crash victims, not individuals involved Source: NHTSA, The Facts:The Economic Cost of Non-Belt Use.

Occupant Protection Buckling Up from 1975-2001: 147,246 lives saved 3.8 million injuries prevented $585 billion saved 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 people. In the past 26 years, safety belts have prevented 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. Source: NHTSA-Economic Impact of Crashes, 2002

Occupant Protection In 2003: 43,220 people died in motor vehicle crashes. 58% of those killed in passenger vehicles were unrestrained. Of the 43,220 vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2003, 58 percent were not wearing a safety belt. Source: NHTSA Preliminary Estimates of 2003 Highway Fatalities, 2004.

Occupant Protection Safety Belts Do Work! Since safety belts are so effective, it seems that we should strive for 100% usage. Safety belt use needs to become a habit. Using safety belts is a preventive health care habit. The habit of buckling up costs nothing. The properly worn safety belt can help you maintain control of your car, keep your head from striking the dashboard or windshield, keep you from being thrown into other people in the car, and keep you inside the vehicle if you are ever involved in a crash.

Occupant Protection Belts Must Be Worn Correctly For safety belts to provide maximum protection, they must be worn correctly. A shoulder belt should be worn across the chest, but never under the arm. It should be snug across the chest. The lap belt should be worn snug and low over the pelvic area. The bone structures of the body are stronger and can withstand the force in a crash. Let’s demonstrate the correct way to wear a safety belt. Select two or three people and drape ribbon the width of a safety belt over them to show the correct position for lap/shoulder belts. Demonstrate how belts are sometimes worn incorrectly. Make sure you 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.

Occupant Protection Improving Belt Fit Recline back of seat What can you do if the shoulder belt hits you across the neck? Move closer to the center of the vehicle or adjust the recline of the seat back. Many newer vehicles have adjustments, on the vehicle post where the shoulder belt is anchored, that can be lowered to make the belt fit properly. Recline back of seat

Occupant Protection Air Bags By law, beginning with model year 1998, all new passenger cars were required to have driver and passenger air bags and safety belts. Light trucks were subject to the same requirement beginning with the 1999 model year. Side air bags are also becoming standard equipment on many new vehicles. Air bags work well to protect adults and older children who ride in the front seat of a vehicle. It is critical that safety belts be worn and worn correctly to help keep you in the correct position during the deployment of the air bag. Air bags must deploy at very high speeds so they are fully inflated before the occupant hits the car’s interior. Due to the considerable force with which an air bag deploys, close or direct contact with the air bag or its module may cause serious or fatal injuries. Occupants not wearing safety belts can be thrown against the air bag module during pre-crash braking. The front seat occupant should be at least 10” away from the air bag module. Distribute the fact sheet Buckling Up and Getting Into the Correct Position. Review with the group.

Occupant Protection Safety Belts save lives and money. $50 billion annually Safety belt use saves society an estimated $50 billion annually in medical care, lost productivity, and other injury related costs. Conversely, safety belt non use results in significant economic costs to society. The needless deaths and injuries from safety belt non use result in an estimated $26 billion in economic costs to society annually. The cost of unbuckled drivers and passengers goes far beyond those killed and the loss to their families. We all pay–in higher taxes and higher health care and insurance costs. Source: NHTSA-Economic Impact of Crashes, 2002.

Occupant Protection What can I do? Educate Support Not only do correctly used safety restraints save lives and prevent injuries, they save us money. What can each of us do to convince people in our community to buckle up? Share with others what you have learned today. Support safety restraint laws. Community efforts, along with legislation and enforcement, have been instrumental in increasing safety belt usage.

Occupant Protection