More drivers and their passengers die on our nation’s highways because they don’t wear their seatbelts during the months of July and August than during any other months of the year.
With some car-related safety matters, Utah excels. I’m proud to say our state has the lowest alcohol-related death totals. However, in other safety matters Utah doesn’t do so well — seatbelt use being one such area.
Thus far this year, 139 people have died in car crashes in Utah. This time last year, only 119 had died. Over the past five years overall, Utah’s crash totals have slightly declined. However, some of Utah’s traffic authorities believe they’re increasing again.
According to Robert Hull, traffic and safety director for the Utah Department of Transportation, “about 55 percent of Utah’s fatalities involve people who are not buckled up.”
Many people find it hard to believe that you can be ticketed if you or your passengers, including children and teenagers, are not wearing seatbelts. Utah’s Safety Belt Use Law requires that drivers and passengers in vehicles be buckled up.
Depending on the age of the driver, a police officer can pull people over for failing to wear a seatbelt even if he or she isn’t breaking any other traffic laws.
I don’t understand why people don’t wear seatbelts.
Of the many dumb things people do, not wearing a seatbelt seems to sit near the top of the list for me.
It’s statistically proven that in almost all cases, you are far more likely to survive a crash if you are wearing a seatbelt than if you’re not — 45 percent more likely according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB has even gone so far as to call seatbelts the “single greatest defense against highway fatalities.” So, why don’t people wear them?
I would guess that some people think they look cooler without their seatbelt — or perhaps some people like living dangerously. However, I can’t remember the last time I heard anyone say they thought it was cool not to wear a seatbelt. I also can’t remember the last time I heard anyone say it was cool to fly through the windshield and splatter on the road when they crash.
My personal experience has convinced me about seatbelt use. I was involved in a crash my first day driving on my own. I was 17. Even though I was only going 35 mph when I was T-boned by a couple of BYU kids that ran a red light, The emergency personnel that attended to my injuries said that the force of the crash impact was so great that I probably would not have lived if I hadn’t been wearing my seatbelt.
I’ve been in a few crashes in my life, and I’m completely confident my seatbelt was the only reason I’m still alive and well today.
While seatbelts aren’t a 100 percent guarantee of survival in a car crash, they do save lives more often than not. So, I would assert that it’s not cool to die or “donate” $45 in seatbelt ticket fines to the government and that it’s more worth anyone’s while to buckle up and arrive alive without fines than it is to risk injury, fines or possibly even death by not buckling up.
Buckle up and make sure your passengers do, too. It’s not only the safer, but smarter thing to do.