According to data gathered by the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), seat belt use in 2008 is approximately 83 percent during daylight hours, a gain from 82 percent in 2007. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that approximately 270 lives are saved for every 1 percent increase in belt use.

 That being said, a large number of drivers are still not wearing seat belts. The introduction of seat belts in 1973 and the gradual enforcement over the years has saved many lives, but drivers need to understand the importance of always wearing a seat belt – whether you are driving on a highway or just going around the corner to the local supermarket.

According to www.buckleupnc.org, seat belts are designed to reduce injury in many different ways, such as:

1.       Preventing ejection. People thrown from a vehicle are four times more likely to be killed than those who remain inside. Occupants ejected from a motor vehicle are up to 14 times more likely to sustain cervical spine injury than those occupants who remain within the vehicle.

2.       Load crash forces on the strongest parts of the body. For an older child or adult, the strongest parts of the body are the hips and shoulders.

3.       Spread crash forces over a wide area of the body. This puts less stress on any one part of the body. Lap and shoulder combination seat belts spread the crash forces across a large area of the body.

4.       Allowing the body to slow down gradually. Vehicles are engineered to crush in a controlled manner during a collision. Occupants can take advantage of the vehicle slow down only if they become a “part” of the vehicle using a seat belt.

5.       Protect the head, neck, and spinal column. A shoulder belt helps to keep the head and upper body away from the hard interior surfaces of the vehicle, which can cause damage to the occupants.

The importance of a correctly fit seat belt is also often overlooked. It cannot provide maximum protection if it is not worn correctly. The shoulder belt should cross the shoulder between the neck and arm and the lap belt must be as low as possible and at least touching the thighs.

Drivers or passengers should never tuck the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the back, which can be dangerous. You should also make it your responsibility to check that any passengers in your vehicle are wearing a seat belt and if not, politely ask them to do so.