Personal Injury Blog

Increased Seat Belt Usage Will Keep California Motorists Safer in Accidents

September 25th, 2011
seat belt usage

Rear seat belt usage rates are much lower than seatbelt usage rates for drivers and front seat passengers

California already has had some of the highest seat belt usage rates in the country.  These rates hover at about 96% across the state, and Los Angeles car accident lawyers find that most drivers choose to buckle up before they set off on the road.  The California Highway Patrol however, believes that more can be done to nudge seatbelt usage rates to 100%.  The agency wants all California drivers to buckle up before they begin driving.

Last week, the California Highway Patrol marked National Child Passenger Safety Week, and September 21 as Vehicle Occupant Restraint Enforcement and Education day.  As part of those efforts the, California Highway Patrol launched an initiative to encourage more Californians to buckle up while driving.

The California Highway Patrol is focusing on increasing seat belt usage rates among all occupants of a vehicle.  California is one of several states to require all occupants of a vehicle to buckle up while driving.  However, rear seat belt usage rates are much lower than seatbelt usage rates for drivers and front seat passengers.

Many rear seat passengers mistakenly assume that they are safer in an accident, because they are cushioned from impact.  Nothing could be further from the truth.   These people could be at a serious risk of being thrown about the interior of the car, and suffering injuries in any kind of accident.  The California Highway Patrol wants to impress upon the public that they’re much safer in accidents when they are buckled in and when children are safely restrained in appropriate car seats or booster seats.

Seatbelts are the most important auto safety invention of the past few decades, and have saved thousands of lives over the years.  Before you begin driving, make sure that you are buckled in, and that everybody else in your car is also wearing their seatbelts.  Children must be restrained in appropriate rear-facing or forward-facing car seat depending on their age and weight, and a booster seat thereafter.  Secure restraints can mean the difference between life and death in any accident.

However, defective seatbelts are being linked to several injuries and fatalities in California.  A seatbelt may be defective if it comes with weak or torn webbing that causes the seatbelt to rip open during impact.  Seatbelts may be defective if they are prone to inertial unlatching, or the seatbelt buckle coming unlatched during an accident.  Such inertial latching may be seen in certain types of accidents like rollovers.  Additionally, a person may be at a much higher risk of an injury, if he’s restrained in a seatbelt with a defective lap shoulder belt retractor, which allows too much slack.

 

 

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