Importance of Wearing a Seat Belt

Before you decide that seat belts are not important, check out these reasons why they just may save your life.

Seatbelts Save Lives

• According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, wearing a seat belt can decrease your chance of obtaining a fatal injury by up to 50 percent.

Protect Your Body

• A three-point safety belt restraint, like the ones found in the front seat of cars, protects the body's internal organs. It also controls your body's forward motion and keeps your pelvis from rotating in the event of a crash. Rotation of the pelvis can cause serious back injuries.
  Seat belts also minimize head contact and excessive neck motion, making it far less likely that you'll get whiplash or hit the windshield.

Save You Money

• Unbelted crash victims typically spend at least 50 percent more on hospital bills than victims who were wearing seat belts, causing many health and car insurance companies to ask about this area of your driving habits when you apply for coverage.
  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures that seat belts have saved more than $585 billion in medical care and related costs since 1975.

Children

• Children whose parents do not wear seat belts are far more likely not to wear seat belts, according to the NHTSA. It's estimated that only 34 percent of children with unbelted parents wear seat belts, even though children are at a greater risk of injury in the event of a car accident. Children wearing seat belts during a car accident are 71 percent more likely to avoid serious injury.

Following the Law

• As of 2008, New Hampshire is the only state without an adult seat belt law. Fines in other states for not wearing your seat belt range from $10 in South Carolina to $200 in Texas.