Seat Belt Laws

Jennifer Isaac English 112 November 10, 2011 Say Yes to Life and Saving Money As I sit at a red light, a car rushes past and collides with an new(prenominal) fomite in the intersection. I call 911 then, after a few minutes, an ambulance pulls up on the scene. The EMT pulled a man from his car his head a bloody mess from the impact with the windshield. They put him in the ambulance, after a bit of trouble acquiring him on the stretcher, and rush him to the emergency room. Later that night while watching the six oclock news I see an interview with the patrol chief he states that the man died in the hospital.However, the device driver likely would have lived if he would have been erupting his foundation swath. With scenes such as this, it is evident that potty belt laws should be in effect as well as enforced. Vehicle fatalities have a big impact on mortality evaluate and insurance premiums therefore, enforcing merchantman belt laws can have a positive effect on society. Automob iles have progressed through the years, and have become quick, yet the faster you go the greater the impact when an accident occurs.Federal and State agencies have developed speed limits and other guidelines, which when enforced, help keep passengers safe. Even though these laws argon in place, accidents still occur however, when the proper precautions are taken, risks can be minimized. As technology progresses so will fomites therefore, safety will continue to be a major concern. It is up to the motorists to decide to break-dance a seat belt, yet law enforcement officers are the ones who are there to enforce seat belt laws. nooky belts are installed into every car and truck, but should we have to wear them?Every state has a different law about who does and does non have to wear them, but in the state of Indiana if you are in a car that is equipped with seat belts and anyone above the age of 14 you are needed to wear a seat belt. Also, children must use the correct car seat for their weight until they reach 135 centimeters tall or their 12th birthday, whichever comes first. thither are several other reasons that you do non need to wear a seat belt such as if you are a driver who is reversing, or supervising a learner driver who is reversing, in a vehicle used for police, fire, and rescue services, a assenger in a trade vehicle and you are investigating a fault, driving a good vehicle on deliveries that is traveling no more than 50 meters between heads, or a licensed taxi driver who is playing for hire or carrying passengers (Using, 1). If there is a reason that you cannot wear a seat belt due to aescu thrashian reasons, your doctor must issue you a Certificate of Exemption for Compulsory Seat Belt Wearing. You must keep this in your car at all times and handy if a police officer pulls you all over.There are strict seat belt laws world-wide but, according to statistics, they are hardly followed. Approximately 50% of lives will be saved in an accident i f pile wear seat belts. Seat belt safety statistics show that nighly the younger universe of discourse between the age groups 16-35 is hardly found habiliment seat belts. Seat belt facts also prove that 70% of the people wearing a seat belt have prevented injuries even on meeting with an accident. It is found that nearly 10,000 lives can be saved every year only by wearing a seat belt (Pandit 1).According to studies cited by the Independence Institute, When subjects who normally did not wear seat belts were asked to do so, they were observed to drive faster, followed more closely, and braked later. In other words, people who are naturally cautious voluntarily choose to wear seat belts, and voluntarily drive safely. When reckless people are forced to wear seat belts, they compensate for the increased safety by driving more recklessly. Furthermore, no jurisdiction that has passed a seat belt law has shown evidence of a reduction in road accident death. (Veksler 1) Seat belts were designed to save peoples lives, this only works if they are worn correctly or even at all. Many people do not wear their seatbelts be get to they do not believe in their efficacy, because they have heard that wearing seat belts might really cost them their lives in certain types of accidents (Mikkelson 1). The constitution allows everyone to have the freedom rights, but how fair is it for the government to dictate what we can and cant do when it comes to wearing a seat belt. The U. S. subject area Highway Safety Bureau first required automobile manufacturers to install lap belts for all seating and shoulder belts for front seats in 1968 however, most Americans did not regularly use safety belts until 1984, when the first state laws were passed mandating seat belt use. As of today, there are 48 states in which it is illegal for a driver or passenger to travel without a seat belt (the exceptions are Maine and New Hampshire). Of those 48 states, 10 have simple enforcement, meaning that police can stop and ticket a motorist simply for not wearing a seat belt.The other 38 states with seat belt laws have secondary enforcement, meaning that police can only ticket people not wearing seat belts if they pull the car over for some other reason. If not all states have to wear them, then why make it a law? Many fatalities that are related to vehicle accidents can be avoided if the occupants wear their seat belts. Some say seat belts can be the cause of deaths. Although this may be true, it is proven that in most cases seat belts are far more likely to save a life than kill the occupants of a vehicle.As written in the World Almanac and defy of Facts, In 2006, safety belts and child restraints saved an estimated 15,808 lives (U. S. push 1746). Seat belts do save lives therefore, the laws that promote their use should be enforced. When police have the authority to stop a motorist solely for not wearing a seat belt, which is called primary law, motorists have more of a r eason to wear their seat belts. Furthermore, vehicle insurance premiums could decrease if seat belt laws are followed.It makes sense that insurance companies charge more because accidents are escalated due to negligence of the driver by not wearing his seat belt. This point is reiterated in the Hudson Valley Business diary The safer all drivers are, the fewer injuries there will be, which affects everyones insurance premiums (Seat Belts 18). If drivers would safe take that extra step before driving, and buckle their seat belt, society as a whole might notice a decrease in insurance premiums in the future. Insurance providers may not notice the change right away, but in the long run they would have to notice that fatalities are decreasing.Though law enforcement programs such as Click-It-Or-Ticket help raise the use of seat belts, they do so by threatening drivers with fines for not buckling up. Laurie F. Beck, from the National Center for blemish Prevention and Control wrote, Alth ough rates of safety belt use in the United States have increased substantially since the first state law was passed in 1984, many an(prenominal) motor vehicle occupants continue to travel unrestrained (1619). Sometimes threats stop short of reaching the amount of people int finish.Perhaps if programs were developed to reward drivers who live on pulled over and are wearing their seat belt, then we would see a stronger increase in seat belt use. Patrol officers could be required to throwaway when a driver was properly restrained that information could be provided to insurance companies those companies would know which motorists were driving safely, and could reward them with discounted premiums. We as American citizens should have the choice in if we wear them or not. There are many reasons that many people do not wear them, but here are just a few.Some people feel if they are dismissal a speed of less than 40 mph, then they do not need to wear them however the National Transport ation Safety Board (NTSB) states that 80 percent of all crashes come at speeds of less than 40 mph and 75 percent of those are deep down 25 miles of home (Silverman 1). Another reason people do not wear their seat belts are because they believe they are uncomfortable. They believe the combination of the lap and shoulder belt is uncomfortable, so they either do not wear it or they put the shoulder belt under their arm. In doing this, it can cause internal injuries if they were ever in an accident.A different reason that some people do not wear their seat belt is because they feel their independence is universe taken from them for being told what to do in their car. They feel that their car is their fortress and they should not be told what to do in it, especially by the government. Some people feel that if they are thrown from a car they have a better chance of being saved then staying in the car with the accident. This is not true according to the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Of fice individuals who get thrown from their cars are more likely to get killed than those wearing seat belts (Silverman 2).Finally, many drivers say they want to increase their chances of surviving a car fire or a submerged car. They feel that if they are buckled is it not only going to take longer to get out of the car, but if they are dazed or not alert, it is going to hinder their chances of getting out of the car alive. less(prenominal) than ? of 1 percent of all accidents involve car fires or submersion. If some type of reward program happened to be in place, the scenario earlier could have ended differently. Maybe the driver would have suffered some type of injury, yet the seat belt could have stopped him from hitting his head on the windshield.Although seat belt laws promote the reduction of vehicle related fatalities and help decrease the cost of insurance premiums, other programs such as a reward program could move on reach motorists. The more benefits motorists see about w earing seat belts the greater the chance they will choose to wear them. References Beck, Laurie F. , et al. Associations Between Sociodemographics and Safety Belt drug abuse in States With and Without Primary Enforcement Laws. American Journal of Public Health 97. 9 (2007) 1619-1624. Biomedical Reference Collection Basic. EBSCO. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.Mikkelson, Barbara & David. Seat Belted. Snopes. com. Urban Legends, 4 July 2011 1-2. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. http//www. snopes. com/autos/accident/seatbelt. asp Pandit, Madhura. Reasons to Wear your Seat Belt. Buzzle. com. Buzzle. com, 2000-2011 2. Web. 28 Sept. 2011. http//www. buzzle. com/articles/reasons-to-wear-your-seat-belt. htmlSeat Belts, Car Seats Save Lives and Affect Insurance Premiums. Hudson Valley Business Journal 6. 34 (1995) 18. Regional Business News. EBSCO. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. Silverman, Steve. Why People Dont Wear Seat Belts. eHow. Demand Media Inc. 1999-2011 4. Web. 28 Sept 2011. http//www. ehow. com/about_5456493_pe ople-dont-wear-seat-belts. html U. S. Motor Vehicle Accidents, 2006. World Almanac & Book of Facts (2009) 1746. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. Using a seat belt. Direct. gov. Crown, 29 Sept. 2010 3. Web, 28 Sept 2011. http//www. direct. gov. uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Roadsafetyadvice/DG_4022064 Veksler, David. The superstar Minute Case Against Mandatory Seatbelt Laws. One Minute Cases. Politics, 21 May 2007 1-3. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. http//oneminute. rationalmind. net/mandatory-seatbelt-laws/