According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 32,598 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2002. Among car occupants older than four, safety belts saved an estimated 14,164 lives that year. The NHTSA estimates that if all passenger vehicle occupants older than four wore safety belts, an additional 7,153 lives could have been saved.
It is clear from these statistics that a seatbelt can save the life of the person wearing it. But, could it save someone else’s life too? A study published in the January 21, 2004 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association looked at the effect of wearing seatbelts on all occupants in car crashes.
Researchers divided the targets into three categories:
The researches excluded convertibles, light trucks, vans, minivans, and sports utility vehicles in their analysis. In addition, the data was adjusted for several factors, including the presence of air bags.
The researchers found that the risk of death for a restrained target in the front seat was increased by 20% when a passenger in the back seat was unrestrained. For a target in the back seat, (restrained or unrestrained), the risk of death was increased by 22% when the front passenger was not wearing a seatbelt. The risk of death for a restrained side-seat target increased by 15% when the passenger on the other side of the car was not wearing a seatbelt.
The authors estimate that use of seatbelts by passengers in the back seat may prevent about one in six deaths of front seat passengers wearing seatbelts and use of seatbelts by front seat occupants may similarly reduce the risk of death for all rear seat passengers.
These findings make sense when you realize that, during a serious car crash, anything that is not bolted down or securely tethered becomes a dangerous projectile. Flying human bodies can apparently be quite lethal.
The first seat belt law came into effect in 1984 in New York. Since then, 49 states and the District of Columbia have enacted seatbelt laws (New Hampshire is the only state that hasn’t). With all the research available, you shouldn’t need a law to tell you to buckle up to reduce your risk. And, this study shows that it is not enough just to buckle yourself in. If you want to reduce your risk, ask others in the car to buckle up too.
RESOURCES:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
Sources:
Cummings P, Rivara FP. Car occupant death according to the restraint use of other occupants: a matched cohort study. JAMA . 2004;291(3):343-349.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety Facts: Occupant Safety. U.S. Department of Transportation Web site. Available at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSF2002/2002occfacts.pdf . Accessed January 20, 2004.
Last reviewed Jan 23, 2004 by Richard Glickman-Simon, MD
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