Tougher Seat Belt Law Saves Lives: Study
By Steve Tuckey
NU Online News Service, Jan. 19, 12:19 p.m. EST?An analysis of federal crash data by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded that fatality rates in nine states and the District of Columbia fell by an estimated 7 percent when they adopted more stringent seat belt laws sometime between 1989 and 2003.[@@]
Safety belt use laws in only 21 states are primary, meaning police may stop vehicles solely for belt law violations. In the other states, belt use law enforcement is only secondary so motorists cannot be stopped for this reason alone.
"Where primary laws are in effect, drivers are more likely to buckle up because the perception is that they're going to be pulled over if they don't," said Susan Ferguson, Institute vice president.
The most recent observational survey conducted in 2004 by the National Traffic Safety Administration shows that belt use averaged 84 percent in primary states compared with 73 percent in secondary states.
A number of observational studies have shown that shifting from secondary to primary law boosts safety belt use, but the Institute's is the first study to evaluate the shift on traffic deaths.
One indication that primary laws led to higher belt use comes from rates among fatally injured drivers. In 1989, before any of the laws were changed, belt use rates among fatally injured drivers were similar?about 20 percent?in both groups of states. By 2003 the rates had risen to 47 percent in states that switched to primary laws, compared with 36 percent in the secondary states.
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