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California Accident Lawyers Encourage Seat Belt Use This Summer

Seat belt use around the country is at an all-time high, but there are still more than 45 million Americans every year who continue to drive unbuckled. That information comes via a report released by the Department Of Transportation.

The report was released in time for the agency to kick off its annual Click It or Get campaign promoting seat belt use around the country. With summer here and plenty of road travel expected, federal agencies are preparing for larger numbers of vehicular traffic, more numbers of motorists, and an increased risk of accidents. Whether it is a rear ender accident or a rollover, a seatbelt is very often the only thing protecting occupants of a car from serious injury or death.

According to the Department Of Transportation, in 2009, approximately 84% of motorists nationwide wore their seatbelts. That was the highest-rate of seatbelt use since these numbers began to be recorded, and it is definitely something that California car accident lawyers would be encouraged about. It doesn’t take any effort to buckle up when you get into a car, but the seatbelt can be the only thing standing between you and sure death or life altering injury in an accident.

Federal agencies estimate that in 2008, approximately 14,000 motorists who were not wearing seat belts, were killed in accidents. Approximately 50% of these motorists could have been saved if they had been buckled in the time of the crash. Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood puts it well when he says – Wearing a seat belt costs you nothing, while not wearing one will cost you everything.

Not surprisingly, the Department of Transportation study found that certain categories of motorists were less likely to buckle up than others. Among those who were least likely to wear their seat belts were teen motorists, young adult drivers, drivers traveling at night, drivers in rural areas and pickup truck drivers.

The fact that teen motorists have some of the lowest seatbelt usage dates is one that is of deep concern to injury lawyers in California. These motorists have a much higher risk of accidents compared to many other motorist groups. They lack the experience and skills to avoid an accident in an emergency situation. Their risk of an accident increases because of cell phone use, and because of distractions from their fellow teen passengers.  The fact that many of these teen motorists don’t buckle up only increases their risk of suffering a serious injury or dying in an accident.

The Department of Transportation report also rates all 50 states based on seatbelt use. Michigan had the highest rates of seatbelt use in 2009 with a whopping 98 % of its motorists choosing to buckle up and stay safe. Motorists in Hawaii had the second highest rates of seatbelt usage with 97.9% bucking up. These states were followed by Oregon with a 96.6% belt usage rate, and Washington State with a 96.4% belt usage rate.

Overall, 15 states in the country and the District of Columbia had seatbelt usage rates  that were above 90%. Obviously, these are statistics that will greatly please both transportation authorities and California injury lawyers.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accidents. Please visit our website at http://www.robertreeveslaw.com/. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us at contact@robertreeveslaw.com.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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