Labels: click it or ticket, seat belt law, seat belt safety, seat belts, vehicle crash

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta has produced a study showing the cost of highway deaths in the United States and the figures are very high. The study looked crash data for 2005 and determined that the total cost from highway crash deaths in the United States for that year was $41 billion.

The study found that more than half of the highway deaths in the US occur in ten states; California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas.

• Texas ranked second with $3.50 billion in costs.
• Florida ranked third with $3.16 billion in costs.
• New York ranked seventh with $1.33 billion in costs.

The cost study only took medical and work loss costs into account; it didn’t include property damage, legal costs, insurance etc. The figures were compiled using the CDC’s Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), which is an online, interactive system that provides reports of injury-related data. The work loss costs were based on the “total estimated salary, fringe benefits, and value of household work that an average person—of the same age and sex as the person who died—would be expected to earn over the remainder of his or her lifetime. “ Since young drivers are disproportionately affected in the total motor vehicle death rate, the total loss of potential work income for them over their lifetimes was much higher.

The CDC’s WISQARS system allows a user to generate a map of each individual state to view the motor vehicle death rate by county. One might think that the large cities and interstate highways would have the highest death rate but the maps support the fact that rural highways are the deadliest highways in America. Viewing the state maps by county, it is easy to see that the death rate in large urban areas is far lower than that for rural counties.

The highway death rate has fallen over the past several years and many attribute that to the economy and gas prices however, the CDC points to traffic safety initiatives such as seat belt laws, better child protective seats along with better education on their use, and graduated driver licensing laws for teens as having a much greater impact on the reduction of the death rate.

Labels: child safety seat, gdl laws, highway crash deaths, Highway Safety, seat belt law

A pick-up truck is a vehicle that's specifically designed to carry heavy loads of cargo. As a passenger transport vehicle however, it doesn't do so well. There are dangers in riding in pick-up truck beds, and as fun as riding in the back of a truck with a bunch of buddies sounds, it's dangerous.

Here are some of the dangers of riding in the bed of a pick-up truck:

No seat belts – There are no seat belts in a pick-up truck bed. In most states, it is illegal for passengers of a vehicle to ride without seat belts. There's actually a law in some states that prohibit passengers under the age of 18 to ride in truck beds unrestrained. While persons 18 years and older are allowed to ride unrestrained in pick-up truck beds, the likelihood of a minor accident turning fatal for them is doubled.

High chance of being ejected – Without seat belts, minor bumps and other obstacles on the road may prove fatal. Riding in the bed of a pick-up truck raises the chance for passengers to be ejected, turning a minor collision into a fatal collision. In Florida alone, there have been a lot of cases of passenger deaths due to ejection from a pick-up truck, and the truck driver may be charged with vehicular homicide.

Designed for cargo, not passengers – The very existence of a pick-up truck bed is solely for carrying cargo, not passengers. Even cargo should be securely secured to the pick-up bed. Imagine what damage an unrestrained 2X4 piece of wood could do if it were to fly through the rear window in a crash.

Any vehicle should be driven and used only for its intended purpose. The bed of a pick-up truck is NOT for transporting passengers. Pick-up truck operators should always observe safety when it comes to driving and interacting with other motorists.

Labels: driver safety, seat belt law, seat belt safety, truck safety, vehicle safety

Military aircraft mechanics are fond of asking a trick question; "What is the primary purpose of an ejection seat?" The answer: to provide a place for the pilot to sit. The secondary purpose, hopefully never used, is to provide a fast, safe means of escape from a crippled aircraft. While cars don't have ejection seats, the car's seat is, never the less, a very important piece of safety equipment. Most drivers tend to think of the car seat in terms of comfort and appearance while ignoring the fact that the seat is a critical piece of safety equipment in a crash.

The most common type of crash on America's roadways is the rear- end crash and the most common injuries drivers experience from that type of crash are whiplash and spinal injuries. The reason for this is simple. One of the laws of motion says "an object at rest wants to remain at rest." While sitting in a car seat, your body wants to remain at rest. If you are struck from behind by another vehicle, your body will want to remain at rest while the car is rapidly pushed out underneath it. If your seat isn't properly positioned, your body will snap back, followed by your head. This rapid snapping back of the spine and neck is what causes all the back injuries. Those of you who may have experienced this type of injury know that you don't really start to feel the muscles tense up and the associated pain until the next day. If it goes untreated, the trauma can cause long term and sometimes permanent injury.

The seats position and its ability to remain upright in a crash, is so important that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (the folks with the crash test dummies) actually test the seat separately from the car. They remove the seat from the car, put it on the track and simulate a rear end crash to see how well the dummy fares in a crash. You can see how these tests are conducted at: http://www.iihs.org/ratings/head_restraints/head_restraint_info.html. You can also look up the seat's ratings for your particular vehicle.

Too many people now days tend to place the reclining seat slightly back and drive in a slightly reclined position. While it may be relaxing, this is a very dangerous practice. The further back the seat, the greater distance your body will be stretched backwards in a crash. To provide the greatest protection, your seat should be in the full upright position with the headrest just barely touching the back of your head. In this position, your body will be protected by the seat and prevented from snapping back so violently in a rear-end collision.

The other advantage of placing the seat in a full upright position is to help keep you alert on long trips. Leaning the seat back may be more relaxing but it can be too relaxing, allowing you to become drowsy on long trips. To take full advantage of all the safety features in the vehicle, you should adjust the seat's position so that your body is a minimum of ten inches from the airbag. Your seat belt should be fastened with the lap belt low over your hips and the shoulder harness crossing the center of the chest and centered over the shoulder. Never drive with the shoulder harness behind you. If the shoulder harness doesn't fit properly, you can adjust the position where it attaches to the car's frame. If your car doesn’t have a shoulder harness adjustment mechanism, you can purchase a shoulder harness adjustment fitting for a very low price at your local auto parts store.

Labels: air bags, car seats, driver safey, driver training, seat belt, seat belt law, seat belt safety

Sunshine State Looks to Improve Seat Belt Usage Rate

Florida state officials are already beefing up compliance with a new seat belt law that does not go into effect until June 30.

Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill May 6 that permits law enforcement to pull over a passenger vehicle if officers observe the driver or front seat passenger not wearing their seat belt. It replaces the current law, which allows officers to give tickets for not wearing a seat belt only after pulling over a driver for a separate offense, like speeding or a broken tail light.

Promoting even more seat belt awareness, the state's Click It Or Ticket campaign kicked off on Monday and runs through May 31.

While the two-week safety campaign is in effect, state and local police agencies are carrying out public awareness efforts and workshops to improve seat belt use rates and conduct training on child passenger safety and safety seat installation.

"The proper use of a safety belt is the single most important action one can take to increase the chances of surviving a vehicle crash," said Sgt. Chris Gonzalez, with the Collier County Sheriff's Office Traffic Safety Enforcement Bureau. "The Collier County Sheriff's Office is asking that every driver make certain all front and back seat passengers are properly buckled up. A simple click can be the difference between life and death."

According to the Florida Department of Transportation, at 92 percent, the seat belt compliance rate for Collier County is the highest in the state. In 2008, statewide seat belt usage was 79.1 percent, making it No. 35 in the nation and below the national average of 83 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The five states with the highest of seat belt use rates have primary enforcement laws like the one just passed in Florida.

One Naples resident, Tom Contento, 55, is pleased with the law's passage.

"[My children's] safety is my biggest concern," said Contento. "I think safety is more important [than questions about personal freedom]."

A woman vacationing in Naples said it is a law that works well in her home state of Connecticut, where the seat belt usage rate was 88 percent in 2008.

"I don't have a problem with it being a law," said Lisa Masoud, 45. "They do spot checks every once in a while. It works pretty well. I think one of the reasons they do it is they can be funded by the federal government."

When Florida's new law goes into effect, the state will receive a $35 million federal grant allocated to states with primary enforcement laws. That money can be used to fund road projects.

The lure of that funding helped pass the bill this year after it died in at least seven consecutive earlier sessions. The state House of Representatives approved the bill by a 95-20 vote. It passed in the Senate by 33-4.

Did you know that courses are available to educate drivers on the rules of the road and the latest defensive driving techniques? Try one now!

Labels: child safety seat, florida traffic laws, seat belt, seat belt law, seat belt safety, teen seat belt use

Though most drivers and passengers understand the rationale for wearing safety belts, some feel wearing them should be a personal choice and they shouldn’t be ticketed for neglecting to do so. But the number of states with primary (meaning that the driver can be ticketed for a safety belt violation without the presence of any accompanying offense) seat belt laws is increasing.

In 2007, 49 states and the District of Columbia had seat belt laws in effect; only 26 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia specified primary enforcement. Several states have passed primary enforcement laws since then; for example, Florida's law will become effective June 30, 2009. The new law, called the Dori Slosberg and Katie Marchetti Safety Belt Law, will allow law enforcement to pull over unbuckled drivers and issue tickets for as much as $120, depending on the county.

Some drivers feel primary enforcement seat belt laws are an infringement on their personal freedom, but it's important to realize that the cost of motor vehicle crashes, which increase when injury and death rates increase due to lack of seat belt use, is passed on to taxpayers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the economic cost of motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2000 was $230.6 billion - $580 for every person in the US.

Obviously, the failure to wear safety belts does not directly impact every aspect of this total cost, but it can and does impact medical costs ($17 billion) and loss of productivity ($107 billion). The increase in injuries and deaths when seat belts aren't worn also increases costs for taxpayers in the form of an increased need for emergency and hospital personnel and disability and social security payments to the injured and deceased and to their dependents.

According to the NHTSA, research has found that lap/shoulder seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent. For light-truck occupants, seat belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 60 percent and moderate-to-critical injury by 65 percent.

Ejection from the vehicle is one of the most injurious events that can happen to a person in a crash. In fatal crashes in 2007, 76 percent of passenger vehicle occupants who were totally ejected from the vehicle were killed. Seat belts are effective in preventing total ejections: only 1 percent of the occupants reported to have been using restraints were totally ejected, compared with 31 percent of the unrestrained occupants.

From 1975 through 2007, the NHTSA estimates that seat belts saved 241,789 passenger vehicle occupants age 5 and older, including 15,147 lives saved in 2007. If all passenger vehicle occupants over age four wore seat belts, 20,171 lives (that is, an additional 5,024) could have been saved in 2007.

Labels: driver education, seat belt law, seat belt safety

A Father Urges Florida High School Students to Buckle Up

On a recent sunny morning in Florida, almost 200 Newberry High School students stood in silence as a former classmate's father urged them to buckle their seat belts whenever they get into a car.

Tom Solberg, whose son Richard Jaggers was among four Newberry students killed in a car wreck a year ago, said, "It's an act that only takes a second to perform, an act that if not done could end your life in seconds." He added that the students might have lived if they had been wearing seat belts.

Jaggers and his friend, Alexander Coppock, both 18, perished in a crash after veering off State Road 24 on an early Sunday morning in May. Neither had been wearing a seat belt, and both young men were hurled from the vehicle.

Solberg made his request while the students watched the unveiling of the first of several signs that will be mounted at high schools around Alachua County. In gold letters, the blue signs at the student exits from Newberry High read, "Buckle up Panthers." Inmate crews will be installing signs at other high schools. The Eastside High sign will spell out "Buckle up Rams."

Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gina Busscher said the signs were a public-private partnership involving donations of time and material.

With spring break starting soon, Alachua County Sheriff's spokesman Art Forgey said that this week is a good time to remind students about the importance of safety.
Sheriff Sadie Darnell told the Newberry High students that she and others are focusing on traffic safety because "traffic crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens. Driving is the most dangerous thing most of you will do in your lives. Every time you see one of these signs, we want you to remember that there is a very simple thing you can do to save your life. Buckle up."

About 200 of the nearly 600 Newberry were on hand for the sign-unveiling ceremony. While Solberg spoke, the students listened intently as he recalled seeing two Florida Highway Patrol troopers turn into his driveway, arriving there to tell him that his son had died.

"What a heavy burden for law enforcement officers to have to carry - to tell someone their child has died," Solberg said. "Make the right decision. Wear you seat belt. Always."

Is your teen a safe driver? The National Safety Commission has developed a new Teen Injury Prevention course to emphasize driving safety for teenagers. For more information, including a Driver Education Book for Parents, visit www.safedriver.com.

Labels: car seats, seat belt, seat belt law, seat belt safety

State Budget Crisis Forcing Seat Belt Law For Pickup Trucks To Center Stage

If Georgia legislators pass a new law requiring adults in pickup trucks to wear seat belts, it would instantly give the state about $4 million in federal highway funds.

In what has become an annual crusade, supporters of the change present Georgia lawmakers with frightening statistics about the number of lives that could be saved and accidents avoided if the law is passed. Yet Georgia has held out, and is now the last state in the nation to specifically exempt adults in pickups from wearing seatbelts.

But Georgia's faces a budget deficit that could exceed $2 billion. The state could spend the $4 million grant to fund road safety programs while saving in the ballpark of $62 million each year in accident-related expenses like medical costs. New Hampshire, with no seat belt requirement for all adult drivers, was denied $3.7 million in grants in 2007.

A Republican physician who has long championed the change, Georgia state Sen. Don Thomas said, "The budget crisis will give this more momentum. It's better to prevent this than to plan funerals."

The federal government has long tied seat belt laws to highway money. In Georgia, minors and adults are required to wear seat belts in all vehicles except pickups.

Requiring adults to wear seat belts can help save lives, of that there's little argument. It's estimated by the National Highway Safety Administration and the Georgia Department of Transportation that changing the law would save 21 lives and prevent 300 injuries annually.

Insurance companies and auto associations have long supported the changes, and at the moment no lobbyists are actively working against the effort. But for years, attempts to pass a tougher seat belt law have been blocked by rural legislators who view the rule as unnecessary regulation.

"Adults ought to be smart enough to wear seat belts. We should be responsible enough to do it without having a state law that says so," said state Sen. Jeff Chapman, a Republican from rural Brunswick who voted against the proposal last year, and will vote against it this year.

Pickup drivers in rural parts of the state agree with that sentiment.

Dennis Lewis, a 50-year-old pickup driver who runs a concession stand in southeast Georgia, said, "I use common sense in my life, and in common sense, I'm going to use a seat belt. Do I need another law on the books to say I must use seat belts? I don't think so."

In 2007, Indiana passed the adult seat belt law for pickups, but the state once took a similar position as Georgia.

In recent years, the Georgia Senate has passed proposals to change the seat belt requirements, but the measures often were bottled up in the House. House Speaker Glenn Richardson did not comment on the measure.

The time is ripe to at least seriously consider a change, says a growing number of political heavyweights.

The Senate would give the measure a "fair hearing and consideration," said a spokesman for Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. Last month, Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue said that a debate was appropriate.

"I don't necessarily think we ought to do it for the federal money," Perdue said. "But the kids I'm concerned about are those that are in the modern-day pickups, when they get a crowd of friends in there, and they're fooling around."

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Labels: seat belt, seat belt law, seat belt safety, teen seat belt use