One of my favorite activities as a child involved packing up the car with snacks, luggage and
jetting down the highway for a funfilled road trip. It did not matter where we went; I was just excited to be leaving the state for a few days. We would play games, listen to music and ask my parents multiple times: “Are we there yet?” Sound familiar?
However, what I do not remember is whether or not my parents enforced the seat belt rule. In fact, I am pretty sure that was not a major concern at the time since we are talking about the 1970’s. If you recall, almost everyone during that time would sit in the back of a pickup truck and ride for hours. Sounds ludicrous today but it was commonplace back then.
In December 1984, New York was the first state to pass seat belt legislation and over the next 10 years, other states passed similar laws. All states and the District of Columbia have some form of an adult seat belt law now, except New Hampshire. Some of these laws are primary enforcement police officers can pull you over simply because you were not wearing your seat belt. On the other hand, there are secondary enforcement laws police officers can issue a citation for a seat belt violation only if you were incidentally found not wearing your seat belt during another primary violation. The majority of states have the secondary enforcement laws and their death rates from crashes is as you could logically guess, higher.
Per the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. Wearing seat belts reduce serious motor vehicle injuries and death by about half, yet millions of adults fail to wear seat belts on every trip. It is estimated that the cost associated with nonfatal motor vehicle accidents in 2012 was over 50 billion dollars due to lost revenue from missed work and lifetime medical expenses.
Known facts about the people least likely to wear seat belts:
- Of the teens that die in crashes, over half of them are not wearing seat belts.
- Rural adults are 10 percent less likely to wear seat belts.
- Rearseated passengers are less likely to wear seats and more likely to hurt themselves and others in a crash.
Children are not exempt from car safety rules and should be seated in a proper restraint
depending upon on age, weight and height. Up until age 2, children should be in a rearfacing car seat unless they have reached the maximum height/weight allowed for that particular seat.
Children then progress to a forward facing car seat until age 5 or when they have outgrown their seat. Booster seats are recommended for children older than age 5 and less than 57 inches tall. In addition, children under the age of 12 should not be riding in the front passenger seat.
Seat belts and car seats are not intended to impinge upon your constitutional rights. These
devices are there to protect you from harm and save your life. Therefore, enjoy your summer travels, but don’t forget to “click it” so that there are many more summers to enjoy.
Your Family Doctor,
Denise HooksAnderson, M.D.
Assistant Professor
SLUCare Family Medicine
yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com
