Is It Ok to Wrap a Baby in a Thin Blanket for the Car Seat
Seat belts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths past about half, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The simple act of wearing a seat belt is the single most constructive way to reduce the take a chance of fatality in a crash. So why practice millions of people not buckle up on every trip? Let'southward debunk 5 common myths well-nigh wearing seat belts that are outdated or merely apparently wrong.
5 Common Misconceptions Almost Seatbelts
#1: Seat belts are uncomfortable and restrict my movement.
Wearing a seat chugalug should not cause whatsoever discomfort or force per unit area when adjusted properly. Seat belts have come a long style in the comfort department since becoming a mandatory feature in cars in the 1960s. Technological advancements similar polyester webbing and pretensioners, which eliminate slack in the consequence of a crash, have made seat belts more comfy for the wearer. If you want to customize your fit, you tin can find clips and extenders at your local dealer or auto parts store.
With children, the shoulder belt should fit across the shoulder and chest, and the vehicle lap chugalug should fit across the upper thighs. (Children are typically between the ages of 8 and 12 years old when they are prepare for a seat chugalug. A practiced examination is if their knees curve at the edge of the seat when backs and bottoms are pressed against the vehicle seat back.)
Pregnant women should habiliment both the lap belt and the shoulder strap, ensuring a snug fit. Lap belts should be buckled nether the belly and over hips. Never identify the lap chugalug across your belly. The shoulder strap should go betwixt the breasts and off to the side of the belly. Never place the shoulder strap nether the arm.
#two: Seat belts trap you in your vehicle during a crash.
This myth is often associated with burn- and water-related accidents, which business relationship for less than one-half of one percent of all crashes. More importantly, seat belts can actually prevent you from beingness knocked unconscious, which tin increment your chances of escaping during an accident.
#3: I'm just going up the block for groceries. I don't need to vesture a seat chugalug around town.
Remember again. Routine, seemingly low-key trips can be deceptively dangerous. Did yous know that most traffic-related deaths happen within 25 miles from your house and at speeds less than 40 mph, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration? Don't accept whatsoever chances. Your life and the lives of your passengers are at stake.
#4: I don't have time to put on my seat belt.
It only takes almost three seconds to strap on your seat chugalug. That's less time than it takes to necktie your shoe. Even if you're buckling up 20 times a day, that's merely one infinitesimal of your day.
#v: My auto has air numberless, so I don't need to wear a seat belt.
Air bags are designed to protect a buckled rider, non an unbuckled one. Seat belts secure yous in the proper position to benefit from an air bag deployment. If you're not wearing your seat belt, you're in danger of sliding underneath the air bag, colliding with the dashboard or windshield, or beingness ejected from the front seat. Air bags are a supplemental form of protection and about are designed to deploy in moderate-to-severe frontal crashes, which doesn't embrace all situations. Using air bags in conjunction with seat belts is your all-time bet.
The History Of Seatbelts
Forget statistics, campaigns or pleas from car manufacturers. As the history of the seatbelt shows, the most constructive way to go drivers and passengers to buckle up is to hit them where it hurts: in their wallets.
Although lap belts were offered in cars as early on equally the 1950s, they were snubbed by many until 1984, when New York became the get-go country to crack down on auto safe. "The thing that started to go people to buckle up in large numbers was simply having state laws with a minimal fine of $25 or $50 for not buckling up," says Mike Ciccone, senior director of crashworthiness evaluations at Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The importance of using seatbelts is no joke. No other quick daily habit—not even eating your veggies—has such life-changing benefits. "Lap and shoulder belts are about
l percent effective in preventing fatal injuries to front‐seat occupants in crashes of all kinds," says Ciccone. The numbers are staggering: Safety belts saved 12,802 lives in 2014, co-ordinate to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Compare that with the early 1980s, when just roughly eleven percent of front end-seat passengers wore belts. And then when did people buckle downward on buckling up? Here, a look dorsum at the invention, technology and laws behind seatbelts.
1885: The U.S. Patent Function problems the offset seatbelt patent.
1949-50: Nash Motors Visitor offers lap belts in certain auto models.
1959: Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invents the start 3-point prophylactic belt in Sweden by combining the lap chugalug and shoulder strap into one continuous belt that could exist buckled with one hand. The invention'south open patent allows other manufacturers to adopt the game-changing design.
1968: The start federal law regarding seatbelts—called the Federal Motor Vehicle Prophylactic Standards—is passed, requiring all new cars sold in the U.Due south. to feature lap or shoulder belts in the front end seats and lap belts in the dorsum seats.
1984: New York passes the first "primary enforcement police," in which a police officeholder can pull over and ticket a driver merely for not wearing a seatbelt. 30-iv states now take primary enforcement laws, while 15 states accept secondary laws, which means drivers pulled over for another reason can receive a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt. The fright of getting ticketed led to a quick jump in seatbelt usage for those states, which meant fewer deaths and injuries. People pay more than attention to principal laws, and buckle upward more than. According to IIHS, if all states with secondary laws had primary laws instead, their rider deaths would decrease by 7 percent.
1993: North Carolina's "Click It or Ticket" campaign, which involved Tv set ads and billboards highlighting the price of getting pulled over, dramatically increases seatbelt employ from
65 percent to 81 pct. A decade later, the "Click It or Ticket" campaign goes national.
2015: States with primary enforcement laws report seatbelt usage at 91 percent, and states with secondary enforcement laws (or no law at all) report seatbelt usage at 79 percent.
Living in such a quickly changing world, information technology'south piece of cake to take innovations for granted, only remember that seatbelts were designed with one goal in heed: to protect y'all. Don't forget to buckle upwards on your next ride—and that goes for everyone, especially kids and even pets.
You ever buckle up … right? Proficient. GEICO offers discounts to expert drivers. See how much you could save.
Next article: 5 Common Driving Myths Debunked
By Stephanie Levis and Kara Cutruzzula
Source: https://www.geico.com/living/driving/auto/car-safety-insurance/why-should-you-wear-a-seatbelt/
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