Welcome to the Nevada Seat Belt Coalition
It's that Simple
Written by Nevada Seat Belt Coalition   
Friday, 13 June 2008 15:10

Seat Belts and Car Seats: It's that Simple

Every one knows that seat belts save lives....right?  But do you know why seat belts save lives? They keep you in place and prevent you from being ejected from the car.  It's that simple. Cars these days are engineered to keep you safe, providing crumple zones and ‘room to live' for occupants belted in during a crash.  If you are ejected from a car during a crash, however, you are four times more likely to die. (For more information on "Room to Live," please visit www.mdt.mt.gov and click on the Room to Live video). 

Newton's Law of Motion indicates that an object in motion will stay in motion until it is stopped by something else.  If you are in a car crash, everything in the car continues to move at the speed you were traveling (i.e., 35 mph) until it is stopped by something else:  a dashboard, windshield, or brick wall for instance.  However, if that something that stops you is a seat belt-which in turn keeps you in position (‘room to live')--then you are much better for it.

In 2007, 255 people died on Nevada roads from car crashes; 122 of them were unbelted.  Half of these, or 60 people, would still be with us today if they'd only buckled up.

The societal cost to Nevadans of each motor vehicle fatality is about $1.23M, and about $900K for each severe injury.  The general public pays over three quarters of these costs, including welfare, medical, insurance, taxes, delays, and lost productivity.  Considering that you are twice as likely to survive a car crash sustaining only minor injuries if wearing a seat belt...well, you do the math.

Two-thirds, or over sixty percent of teens age 16-20 that died on our roads last year were not buckled up.  Research has shown that Graduated Driver License laws (GDL) for new drivers have resulted in fewer teen-caused crashes and deaths across the nation.  Nevada's GDL law is a strong one, but does not address the need for teens to wear seat belts.  (For more information on Nevada seat belt and child restraint laws, go to the 'Legislation' link on this website).

The threat of a ticket has proven to increase seat belt usage among non-users, where the fear of death or injury has failed.  Nevada's ‘Click it or Ticket' seat belt enforcement campaign has helped to increase its belt usage rate from 79% in 1999 to 91% in 2007.  However, the 10% not buckling up are primarily young males, impaired and/or night-time drivers.  These high-risk groups may only be convinced to buckle up once Nevada adopts a standardized seat belt law (Nevada's seat belt law is secondary enforcement, meaning an officer can only pull over a vehicle if he witnesses another violation besides the non-use of a seat belt). States that have enacted standard belt laws exhibit a 6-12% jump in seat belt usage within one year of passage.

Non-users of seat belts claim that they are only hurting themselves.  However, if they survive a crash and rack up $150K for medical costs alone, that increases insurance premiums and costs for the rest of us.  If they are the only one [injured or killed] in the car, their family and friends must suffer their loss.  If they are not the only one in the car, they become a projectile inside the car, kicking someone else in the head and injuring them even though that someone else was belted in.

Children riding in cars with buckled-up adults are three times more likely to be belted in safely themselves. Please take two seconds to Buckle Up, Every Trip, Every Time.  It's that simple.

For more information, please contact the DPS- Office of Traffic Safety at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Last Updated ( Monday, 25 August 2008 12:04 )
 
Nevada Seat Belt Law FAQ
Written by NV Seat Belt Coalition   
Sunday, 18 May 2008 20:38

ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

2007 Legislative Session
Senate Bill 42: Standardizing Nevada's Seat Belt Law, NRS 484.641

 

1.  Isn’t it my personal right to choose to wear a seat belt?

            a. Mandatory wearing of a seat belt is already Nevada law. SB 42 would simply make it like all other standard enforcement traffic laws.

            b. You can be pulled over for having a broken tail light; why not make the seat belt law standard and equal to all other traffic laws?

 

2. Why wear a belt at all?

          a. You are 45% more likely to survive a crash if you’re wearing a belt.

            b. If you’re using a belt, but another passenger is not, you’re 20% more likely to die in the crash from the other person hitting you.

            c. Costs for crashes of unbuckled people are 55% higher than for seat belt users.

            d. Society pays for your choice to not wear a seat belt: unemployment to survivors, Social Security to widows, widowers, and orphans, increased auto and health insurance costs, legal costs, lost production, and medical costs. If you are involved in a crash, about 85% of the costs are borne by society.

            e. Your choices affect others, including loved ones, who must care for the survivors, or carry the heartache for those who died.

3.  Aren’t secondary laws adequate?

          a. Studies indicate that motor vehicle fatality rates are 20% higher in states without a standard belt law than those with a standard law (NHTSA).

          b. It is proven that seat belt usage rates will increase, and thus save lives, in states that pass a standard enforcement law. Nevada’s remaining non-users of belts are our high-risk populations: teens & young male drivers, night-time (about 15% less usage than in day-time), and impaired drivers.  For states that pass standard enforcement, belt usage in fatal crashes increases by at least 9% (FARS), meaning more high-risk drivers and passengers are buckling up after standard enforcement is implemented.

            c. States like California, Michigan, and Washington that have passed standard seat belt laws experienced a decrease in alcohol-related fatalities; the standard law increased the drunk driver, or high-risk drivers’ seat belt use.  In addition, when a state passes a standard seat belt law, it has a positive side affect on neighboring states, through awareness and increased usage.

4.  Don’t police have better things to do than to stop drivers for traffic violations?

            Since Nevada already has a seat belt law, standard enforcement would not increase law enforcement workload.  Car crashes are the number one killer of all people age 3-34. Wearing seat belts is the simplest way to almost double your chance of surviving a crash. (Over a ten-year period, you have a 1-in-7 chance of being in a car crash). Traffic enforcement often leads to the capture of more serious criminals: police routinely find stolen cars and apprehend drug traffickers and fugitives during traffic stops. Nevada law enforcement officers must routinely make wise enforcement priority decisions; they support this bill.

5.  Won’t a standard seat belt law lead to police harassment of innocent people?

            Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Surveys (MVOSS) conducted randomly before and after passage of standard belt laws show public opinion supports standard enforcement, with African-American and Latino populations approving even more than Caucasians. Approval of standard laws was even higher after the law passed (no negative effects in relation to racial profiling were noted, www.nhtsa.dot.gov.). No state with a standard seat belt law has reported harassment as a result of the enforcement policy (26 states to date). 

6.  Doesn’t public education work better than laws?

            Standard belt laws and enforcement work when education and fear of death or of a ticket fail. In addition, children are three to four times more likely to be restrained if the driver is restrained, and strong laws and enforcement are proven to change behavior, or increase driver usage of belts.

 
Last Updated ( Friday, 13 June 2008 15:17 )
 
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