Important Seatbelt Statistics You Need to Know

People have long debated whether seatbelt failure problems should make us avoid wearing seat belts altogether for a safer driving experience. Overwhelmingly experts and the law agree that this is a bad decision. However, it isn’t just opinion that had people agreeing. There are very real statistics to back up the importance of seatbelt safety. Seatbelt problems are not normal, and if you’ve experienced an injury while using a seatbelt, talk to a lawyer today. Fill out this form to learn more about your legal rights. Consider the following:

• 80% of all death to children in a motor vehicle accident could be prevented by properly securing the safety harnesses and seatbelts. (James Madison University)
• As many as 17,000 people could be saved every year by wearing a seatbelt. (James Madison University)
• For survivors, average medical costs are 50% higher for those not wearing a seatbelt. (Car-Accidents.com)
• Of the 32,598 passengers killed in 2002 as the result of an automobile crash, almost 60% were not wearing seatbelts. (Naval Safety Center)
• Only 1% of passengers who were restrained were ejected from car seats during a car crash. Of those ejected (restrained and unrestrained), 73% were killed. (Naval Safety Center)

In addition to using your seatbelt more often to prevent injuries and death, it is important to advocate for safer options and keep up to date with recall information. Seatbelt problems happen more often than manufacturers would have you believe. If you’ve been injured in a car crash due to a seatbelt problem, use this form to tell us about your experiences.

For example, in 2006, Toyota recalled their Lexus luxury sedans after receiving hundreds of complaints about the winding lock seatbelt problems. Before that, in 2005, GM recalled over 425,000 of their vans because the seatbelts did not latch correctly, causing ejected from car seats during motor vehicles accidents. Before that, in 2000, both Ford and GM recalled over 300,000 vehicles, including Explores, Lincoln Town Cars, and Impalas because of inertial unlatching problems.

Unfortunately, we can’t be sure how many people have died or have been injured due to seatbelt failure. The statistics tracked only cover seatbelt failure and improper seatbelt usage as a combined statistic. In other words, we can’t know for sure how many deaths are due to human error versus how many deaths are due to manufacturer problems. What we do know is that stronger regulations regarding the manufacturing and testing of seatbelts can save lives. Talk to a lawyer today to learn more about your rights if you’ve been injured in car crash due to seatbelt problems.

Stats are from:

Car-Accidents.com
http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/seat_belts.html

James Madison University
http://www.jmu.edu/safetyplan/vehicle/generaldriver/safetybelt.shtml

Naval Safety Center
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/ashore/motorvehicle/clickit/nationalstatistics.htm

Please fill out the form below to see if you have a Seatbelt Failure case.

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SEATBELT FAILURE INFORMATION
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