Do seat belts and air bags REALLY make a difference?

Do you ALWAYS buckle up when you get behind the wheel?  What if you are a passenger in the back seat of a car – do you wear your seat belt then, too?

Some Virginians are consistent about their seat belt use, while others will wear their seat belt only when they drive, but not when they’re a passenger.  Others shun seat belts completely, feeling they are the product of a “nanny state” bent on removing all personal decision making and responsibility from our daily lives.

If you’ve been feeling wishy-washy about wearing your seat belt or if you have sometimes wondered if those airbags you paid for were really worth it, these statistics may help.  According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, the correct use of seat belts combined with air bags could mean the difference between life and death in a motor vehicle crash.  That’s a pretty heavy claim.

Here’s what AAA has to say about seat belt and air bag safety:

• Between 1975 and 2006, seat belts have saved 226,567 lives
• Front-seat passengers cut their risk of fatal injury by 45 percent when they wear a seat belt
• An additional 5,441 lives could have been saved in one year if all passenger vehicle occupants over the age of 4 had been wearing safety belts
• Child restraints saved the lives of 425 children under the age of five in one year
• Between 1975 and 2006 a total of 8,325 lives were saved by child restraints
• Air bags saved 2,466 lives between 1987 and 2006

Read more about seat belts in our auto accident law library article “Common Questions about Virginia’s Seat Belt Laws”.