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Do People Wear Seatbelts Save Lives?

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Do Your Passengers in The Backseat Use Seatbelts?

Seatbelts save lives! Even though there have been numerous studies showing that wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of serious injury and death in a car accident, many people still do not wear their seatbelts. According to Chris Caruso from Automotive Safety Counseling, the United States has the lowest rate of seatbelt use in the developed world. From 1975 through 2014, wearing seatbelts saved 330,507 lives; however, if every person had been wearing a seatbelt, another 378,983 lives would have been saved.

One contributing factor to the number of lives lost is the fact that many passengers in the back seat do not wear seatbelts. Approximately 22 percent of passengers riding in the back seat do not buckle up. Fifty-five percent of the backseat passengers who died in motor vehicle accidents in 2013 were not wearing their seatbelts. The US DOT estimates that people who do not wear seatbelts are 30 times more likely to be ejected from the vehicle in a collision. …show more content…
Possibly one reason people do not wear seatbelts is they convince themselves they are safer in the backseat so they do not need to wear their seatbelt.

What Are the Five Most Dangerous Lies People Believe About Wearing Seatbelts?

In addition to believing the back seat is safer in a car crash, people use other excuses to avoid wearing a seatbelt.

Consumer Reports published an article discussing five dangerous lies people believe about wearing seatbelts. Each of the following beliefs are dangerous, especially if you use one or more of these arguments to justify not wearing your seatbelt every time you are in a car regardless of whether you are driving, in the front seat, or in the back seat.

Do you tell

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