Seat belt legislation

Seat belt legislation requires the fitting of seat belts to motor vehicles and the wearing of seat belts by motor vehicle occupants. Laws requiring the fitting of seat belts to cars have in some cases been followed by laws mandating their use, with the effect that thousands of deaths on the road have been prevented. Different laws apply in different countries to the wearing of seat belts.

National comparisons

Australia

In Australia, the use of seat belts by all vehicle passengers is compulsory. The states of Victoria and South Australia introduced a requirement for belt anchorages in 1964, although not for the belts themselves.[1] In 1970, the use of seat belts by vehicle occupants was made compulsory in the state of Victoria, followed by the rest of Australia and some other countries during the 1970s and 1980s. The subsequent dramatic decline in road deaths, equivalent to thousands of lives saved in Australia alone, is generally attributed to seat belt laws and subsequent road safety campaigns.[2][3][4] Seatbelts are not required for bus occupants, reversing drivers, and those driving some slow moving vehicles. The laws for these differ depending on the state or territory with jurisdiction.

Canada

All provinces in Canada have primary enforcement seat belt laws. Ontario was the first province to pass a law which required vehicle occupants to wear seat belts in 1976.[5]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, seat belts must be worn at all times if they are fitted to a vehicle. Passengers may be exempt from wearing a seat belt for different reasons. Since September 18, 2006, children travelling in the UK must also use an appropriate child seat in addition to the standard seat belt, unless they are 12 years old and/or have reached at least 135 centimetres (53 in) in height.[6]

In the UK, a requirement for anchorage points was introduced in 1965, followed by the requirement in 1968 to fit three-point belts in the front outboard positions on all new cars and all existing cars back to 1965. Successive UK Governments proposed, but failed to deliver, seat belt legislation throughout the 1970s.[7] In one such attempt in 1979 similar claims for potential lives and injuries saved were advanced. William Rodgers, then Secretary of State for Transport in the Callaghan Labour Government (1976–1979), stated that: "On the best available evidence of accidents in this country - evidence which has not been seriously contested - compulsion could save up to 1000 lives and 10,000 injuries a year."[8]

United States

Seat belt use by type of law in the US, 2008

In the United States, seatbelt legislation varies by state. The state of Wisconsin introduced legislation in 1961 requiring seat belts to be fitted to the front outboard seat positions of cars.[9] Seat belts have been mandatory equipment since the 1968 model year per Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

New York State passed the first law in the US mandating the use of seat belts in 1984 under the leadership of John D. States, an orthopedic surgeon who dedicated his career to improving automotive safety.[10] Depending on which state you are in, not wearing a seatbelt in the front seat is either a primary offense or a secondary offense, with the exception of New Hampshire, which does not have a law requiring people over age 18 to wear a seat belt. In the front seat, the driver and each passenger must wear a seat belt, one person per belt. In states such as New York, New Hampshire, Michigan, etc. (See article State Seat Belt Laws), seat belts in the rear seats are not mandatory for people over the age of 16, though it is extremely advised. The driver and front-seat passengers aged 16 or older can be fined up to $50 each for failure to buckle up.

Seat belt use by sex, age, and type of law in the US, 2008

A primary offense means that a police officer can pull you over for the seatbelt law violation alone, and secondary offense that you can be punished for a seatbelt law violation only if you are already pulled over for another reason. By January 2007 25 states and the District of Columbia had primary seatbelt laws, 24 secondary seatbelt laws, and New Hampshire had no laws.[11] In 2009, Public Health Law Research published several evidence briefs summarizing the research assessing the effect of a specific law or policy on public health. One stated that "Safety belt laws work, but there is strong evidence to support that primary enforcement safety belt laws are more effective than secondary enforcement laws in increasing seat belt use and reducing crash injuries."[12]

Another found that "there is strong evidence that enhanced seat belt enforcement interventions can substantially increase seat belt use and its associated benefits."[13]

Developing countries

In many developing countries, pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaw operators and moped users represent the majority of road users.

In India, all cars manufactured after March 25, 1994 are equipped with front seat belts. The rule was extended for rear seats in 2002. The usage of seat belts is to be implemented by the respective states with most states making seat belt usage for front seat passengers mandatory in 2002. Older vehicles that did not have seat belts originally were exempted.

In Indonesia, seat belts are only mandatory for front seats. Many low entry car models are not equipped with rear seat belts.[14]

In Malaysia, the first stage of safety belt laws was implemented in 1979. This was expanded in January 2009 to include rear passengers. Passenger vehicles registered prior to January 1, 1995, and those weighing more than 3.5 tons are exempted from this rule. The third and fourth stages, which will deal with baby and child seats and the number of passengers in a vehicle, have not taken effect.[15]

In the Philippines, a seat belt law, Republic Act No. 8750 was approved in August 5, 1999. The law took effect in 2000 and requires all public and private vehicles, except motorcycles and tricycles, to have their front seats equipped with seat belts. Front seats as defined by the law includes the first row seats behind the driver for public utility buses. Those below the age of six are prohibited to occupy the front seats of motor vehicle even if wearing a seat belt. Jeepneys are only required lap belts for the fron seat passengers and the driver.[16][17]

The table below gives an overview of when seat belt legislation was first introduced in different countries. It includes both regional and national legislation.

CountryCompulsory wearingCompulsory fittingSource
CarsBus passengersCarsBuses
DriverFront passengersRear passengers
 Australia1970 (Victoria) 1971 (NSW) 1972 (National) 1986 (child restraints) 1969, 1971 (back seat)1983 (≤3.5 tonnes);
 Canada1976      
 European Union1993   
 Finland197519821987   
 France1973 (outside cities), 1975 (cities at night), 1979 (all)199020031967, 1978 (back seat)2003

 Germany1976198419991970, 1979 (back seat)1999de:Gurtpflicht
 Hungary1976 1993   
 Hong Kong1983198319962004 (minibuses)1996 (back seat)2004 (minibuses)

 India    1994 (front seats), 2002 (rear seats)  
 Ireland1979 1992 1971 (front seats), 1992 (rear seats) 
 Italy19891990 (where available)‡2006‡1988 (new vehicles); 1989 (all*, front seats); 1990 (new vehicles, back seats); 2000 (all*, back seats)2006
 Japan1971† (1985)1971 (no fines), 1985 (fines on freeway), 1993 (all) 200820081969 
 Netherlands19761992 1975 (front) 1990 (rear)
 New Zealand19721972 (15 years and over), 1979 (8 years and over)1989♣ 1972 (vehicles registered after 1965), 1975 (after 1955) 
 Philippines2000 (6 years below prohibited to occupy front seats) 2000 (first row behind the driver's seat only)2000
 Singapore19731973199320081973  
 Spain1975      
 Sri Lanka20112011     
 Sweden197519861969 (front) 1970 (rear)2004
 Thailand19962009     
 United Kingdom19831991 1967 (front) 1987 (rear) RoSPA
 United States1984 Front lap 1965 model year; front shoulder & rear lap 1968; 3-point front 1974

* - actually only vehicles registered after 15 June 1976; in previous registered vehicles fitting is optional
† - required by the law, but no penalty for violation at the time
‡ - required by the law, but low enforcement
♣ - definitely introduced by this date, possibly earlier


Effects

Lives saved by seat belts and airbags

Studies by road safety authorities conclude that seat belt legislation has reduced the number of casualties in road accidents.

Experiments using both crash test dummies and human cadavers also indicated that wearing seat belts should lead to reduced risk of death and injury in car crashes.

Studies of accident outcomes suggest that fatality rates among car occupants are reduced by between 30 and 50 per cent if seat belts are worn. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that death risks for a driver wearing a lap-shoulder seat belt are reducing by 48 per cent. The same study indicated that in 2007, an estimated 15 147 lives were saved by seat belts in the United States and that, if seat belt use were increased to 100 per cent an additional 5024 lives would have been saved.[18]

An earlier statistical analysis by the NHTSA claimed that seat belts save over 10,000 lives every year in the US.[19]

According to a more recent fact sheet produced by the NHTSA:

"In 2012, seat belts saved an estimated 12,174 lives among passenger vehicle occupants 5 and older. [...] Research has found that lap/shoulder seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45% and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50%. [...] Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats has found them to reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants (younger than 1 year old) and by 54% for toddlers (1 to 4 years old) in passenger cars." [20]

In Victoria, Australia the use of seat belts became compulsory in 1970. By 1974 decreases of 37% in deaths and 41% in injuries, including a decrease of 27% in spinal injuries, were observed, compared with extrapolations based on pre-law trends.

By 2009, despite large increases in population and the number of vehicles, road deaths in Victoria had fallen below 300, less than a third of the 1970 level, the lowest since records were kept, and far below the per capita rate in jurisdictions such as the United States. This reduction was generally attributed to aggressive road safety campaigns beginning with the seat belt laws.[21][22]

Opposition

A number of groups and individuals are opposed to seat belt legislation. The most common grounds for opposition are:

Risk compensation and other theories

The most common basis for disputing estimates of the benefits of seat belts is risk compensation and risk homeostasis advanced by researchers John Adams and Gerald Wilde. The idea of this theory is that, if the risk of death or injury from a car crash is reduced by the wearing of seat belts, drivers will respond by reducing the precautions they take against crashes.

Along with many others , Adams accepts the hypothesis that wearing seatbelts improves a vehicle occupant’s chances of surviving a crash.[23]

In order to explain the disparity between the agreed improvement in crash survival and the observed results, Adams and Wilde argue that protecting someone from the consequences of risky behaviour may tend to encourage greater risk taking. Wilde states "... to compel a person to use protection from the consequences of hazardous driving, as seat belt laws do, is to encourage hazardous driving. A fine for non-compliance will encourage seat belt use, but the fact that the law fails to increase people's desire to be safe encourages compensatory behaviour." [24] Studies and experiments have been carried out to examine the risk compensation theory. In one experiment subjects were asked to drive go-karts around a track under various conditions. It was found that subjects who started driving belted did not drive any slower when subsequently unbelted, but those who started driving unbelted did drive consistently faster when subsequently belted.[25] A study of habitual non-seatbelt wearers driving in freeway conditions found evidence that they had adapted to seatbelt use by adopting higher driving speeds and closer following distances[26] In another study, taxi drivers who were habitual non-wearers were timed over a route with passengers who did, and others who did not, insist on the driver wearing a belt. They completed the route faster when belted.[27]

In addition to risk compensation, Adams has suggested other mechanisms that may lead to inaccurate or unsupportable predictions of positive benefits from seatbelt legislation.

Individual liberty

Opponents have objected to the laws on libertarian principles.[28] Some do so on the grounds that seat belt laws infringe on their civil liberties. They argue that not wearing seat belts is a victimless crime as the only person harmed is the one making that decision for himself about his own life.

The counterpoint to the libertarian view toward seatbelt laws is that mandatory usage may reduce injuries and deaths (while possibly increasing the number of accidents) but also reduces the economic cost to society. Another notable scenario is of rear-seated passengers being forced forward in a crash and thus inadvertently harming the driver or front passenger. A University of Wisconsin study demonstrated that car accident victims who had not worn seatbelts cost the hospital (and the state in the case of the uninsured) on average 25% more.[29]

Side-effects of seat belts

Critics have pointed to fatalities and injuries caused by wearing seat-belts. In neck injury cases, the deceleration from a high-speed impact can cause a seat-belt wearer's head to continue forward suddenly while the body is restrained, potentially causing paralyzing injuries. A study of such injuries notes "Seatbelts save lives. However, they may cause injury to adjacent structures and when they malfunction can cause injury to the abdominal viscera, bony skeleton and vascular structures. The motor industry has attempted to reduce these injuries by modification of vehicle design and safety equipment."[30]

Long thought to be a side-effect, but rather it is a psychological reflex that risk compensation is used as a result of some seat belt use.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "A Potted Seat Belt History". Drivers Technology.
  2. ↑ Milne, P.W. "Fitting and Wearing of Seat Belts in Australia: The history of a successful countermeasureA". February, 1985. Department of Transport; Federal Office of Road Safety, Australian Government Publishing Service. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  3. ↑ Helena Webb (15 August 2006). "Loose belts lose lives". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  4. ↑ 2005 Regulatory Impact Statement - Seatbelt legislation amendments
  5. ↑ "Seatbelts Saving Lives In Ontario For 35 Years" (Press release). Ministry of Transportation, Ontario. December 2010.
  6. ↑ "Wearing a seat belt and exemptions". Directgov.
  7. ↑ "RoSPA History - How Belting Up Became Law". RoSPA. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  8. ↑ "RoSPA History - How Belting Up Became Law" (PDF). john adams.
  9. ↑ "The History of Seat Belt Development". School Transportation News. STN Media Group. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  10. ↑ Click it or ticket
  11. ↑ "Most Wanted". National Transportation Safety Board.
  12. ↑ "Primary Enforcement of Safety Belt Laws". Public Health Law Research. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. December 7, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Enhanced Enforcement of Safety Belt Laws". Public Health Law Research. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 2009.
  14. ↑ "Indonesia". US Department of State. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  15. ↑ "All must belt up in MPVs". The Star. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  16. ↑ "Republic Act No. 8750". LAWPHiL. Eleventh Congress of the Philippines. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  17. ↑ Crisostomo, Sheila (1 May 2000). "Seat Belt Law takes effect today". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "Lives Saved Calculations for Seat Belts and Frontal Air Bags". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. December 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  19. ↑ Glassbrenner, Donna. "Estimating The Lives Saved By Safety Belts and Air Bags". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  20. ↑ "Traffic Safety Facts - 2012 Data - Occupant Protection". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Sexton, Reid (27 December 2009). "Victoria's road toll at record low". theage.com.au. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  22. ↑ Lucas, Clay (9 July 2010). "How low can we go?". theage.com.au. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  23. ↑ John Adams (2006). "The Failure of Seat Belt Legislation". John Adams. Retrieved 2010-03-04. (primary source)
  24. ↑ Wilde GJS (1994). Target Risk. Toronto: PDE Publications. ISBN 0-9699124-0-4.
  25. ↑ Streff FM, Geller ES (August 1988). "An experimental test of risk compensation: between-subject versus within-subject analyses". Accident Analysis and Prevention 20 (4): 277–87. doi:10.1016/0001-4575(88)90055-3. PMID 3415759.
  26. ↑ Janssen W (April 1994). "Seat belt wearing and driving behaviour: An instrumented-vehicle study". Accident Analysis and Prevention 26 (2): 249–2. doi:10.1016/0001-4575(94)90095-7. PMID 8198694.
  27. ↑ Wilde GJS (1994). Target Risk (1st ed.). ISBN 0-9699124-0-4.
  28. ↑ Jeff Jacoby (August 25, 1994). "Unbuckling the Voters" (Op-Ed). Boston Globe.
  29. ↑ Marion Ceraso; Keri Frisch; Stephen Hargarten; Timothy Corden (September 2006). "Primary Enforcement of Seatbelt Laws: A Means for Decreasing Injuries, Deaths and Crash-Related Costs in Wisconsin?" (PDF) 7 (1). University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
  30. ↑ Smith, J. E. (2005). Injuries caused by seatbelt - Trauma. tra.sagepub.com. pp. Vol. 7, No. 4, 211–215. Retrieved 21 November 2010.

References and further reading

External links

Links to sites/studies that endorse seat belts:

Links to sites/studies skeptical/critical of seat belt legislation +