As long time advocates of vehicle safety, we pay close attention to car accidents in Washington State. Police reports and news stories seem to come out on a weekly basis of people suffering serious personal injuries and dying because they were not wearing their seatbelts.
The excuses vary, but the results are the same. Head-on accidents can thrust the victim out of the front windshield of the car, rollover accidents can cause a victim to be thrown out of the car, and almost every other accident can result in being rattled around the inside of the vehicle like loose debris.
These results are horrific and there have been hundreds of studies showing the benefits of seatbelts. In fact, Washington State implemented a “Click it or Ticket” campaign that increased enforcement and fines for people, both drivers and passengers, who were not wearing seatbelts while the car was moving. Regardless of this, there are still those few who insist on not wearing seatbelts and they have a myriad of excuses, yet you will find that “not wanting to die” is not among them.
Top Ten Excuses People Use For Not Wearing Seatbelts
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a survey amongst 1685 people who said that they do not regularly or never wear a seatbelt. They then tallied their answers and spread them amongst many different criteria, but there were ten main excuses that they all seemed to have in common.
1: “Only driving a short distance” – Studies have show that the majority of accidents happen within 5 miles of the victim’s home, thus, not putting on your seatbelt for short trips in fact increases your chances of getting severely injured in a car accident.
2: “Forgot to put it on” – Most modern vehicles produced after 1985 have a seatbelt light that reminds drivers to wear their seatbelts. Some of these sensors also monitor the weight put upon passenger seats and back seats and will chime when the seatbelts are also not activated. Please do not deactivate this feature and do not ignore it.
3: “In a rush” – We all live hectic lives, but taking two seconds to put on the seatbelt will not hamper the degree of lateness any driver may experience. Sure, with multiple stops taking on and off the seatbelt can be a pain, but it is only a small movement that takes less energy and as much time as closing the car door, which is probably something that everyone does every time they enter and leave the car.
4: “The seatbelt is uncomfortable” – This excuse would be valid if seatbelts weren’t adjustable, but they are. Some people are larger than others and may have to stretch it further or slip it under their belly, but it’s worth it.
5: “Driving in light traffic” – The fewer the cars, generally, the faster people drive. Studies have shown that there are more deaths and injuries on low volume rural roads than there are on high volume urban roads. Plus this excuse becomes less valid as traffic volumes vary as cars reach different streets and arterials.
6: “The probability of being in a crash is too low” – It is impossible for an individual driver to predict when they are going to get into a serious car accident. Daytime traffic volumes are high causing accidents, which lead to evening and early morning when instances of speeding and DUI increase considerably.
7: “Don’t want my clothes wrinkled” – There is no disputing, seatbelts can wrinkle some clothing, but risking a slight wrinkle from a seatbelt is a better bet than risking your life. Plus, is people are aware that you drove to work or to your meeting, they are far more forgiving than you may think.
8: “People I am with are not wearing belts” – This excuse is in the same category of the “If your friends jumped off of a building” excuse for social conformity. People who judge you for using safety precautions in a vehicle, which statistically kills more Americans than any other thing outside of disease, may need to reassess their priorities and overall judgment.
9: “Don’t like being told what to do” – If people who used this excuse actually believed it then they wouldn’t allow labels on rat poison to keep them from eating rat poison or allow warning signs on electrical wires to deter them from using them as dental floss. Not that the people who use this excuse are intellectually challenged, but consistency might help them realize the errors of their ways.
10: Other – “Other” in the study includes “I knew someone who was wearing their seatbelt and they died anyway,” and “I’d rather be thrown from the car in the event of an accident than stay in it.” Neither of these excuses are valid or sane for that matter. Seatbelts save lives, but only to an extent. Accident severity varies and seatbelts don’t make drivers immortal. Also, being thrown into the roadway like a helpless ragdoll to be run over by other vehicles rather than surrounded by a steel shell during a car accident is a misguided notion. The last excuse was, “My [loved one] was killed by the seatbelt.” This has been known to happen, but not wearing a seatbelt is 99% more detrimental.
Washington Car Accident Lawyers
The standardization of over the shoulder seatbelts is less than 30 years old. This came after research showed the hundreds of thousands of lives that could potentially be saved by improving the effectiveness of seatbelt technology and follow it up by an effective awareness campaign. Though deaths and injuries due to people not wearing seatbelts is down dramatically from the 80s, there is still work to be done. Please don’t allow your friends or loved ones to become statistics, urge them to stop making excuses and buckle up every time they get behind the wheel.
Phillips Webster is a Seattle law firm with a substantial track record of success Personal Injury Litigation. We take the time to fully assess the injured party’s case in order to assure that the victim receives the compensation they deserve. Call our Personal Injury Attorneys today for a free consultation.
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