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Everybody knows it’s a good idea to wear a seat belt, yet half of the victims in more than 35,000 auto crash deaths every year in the United States failed to wear one. If you’re someone who consistently wears their seat belt, you may be wondering, where did the seat belt come from?
How does it protect me? And why don’t more people wear them?
A brief history of the seat belt
Before we had the three points seat belt all cars are equipped with today, seat belts looked a lot like they do in airplanes. These two point seat belts that stretched across the lap were invented in the early 1900s. Though they were effective in low speed crashes, as the speeds and performance of cars increased throughout the 1900’s it became apparent that a better belt was needed: a belt that would not only keep you in your seat but also keep your torso from being damaged on the steering wheel and you abdomen from being damaged by your very protection device.
In 1959 Volvo introduced the three-point-seat belt and opened up the patent to allow all car manufacture’s use it in the interest of safety. It wasn’t until the mid-60’s though, that they started to become standard equipment. Throughout the next several decades, seatbelt warning lights, automatic locking mechanisms, and new materials were implemented to make the seat belt even better.
The seat belt in 2017
In the United States today, 88.5% of adult passengers buckle up. So who are the 11.5% not wearing seat belts? Studies show they are most likely to be young men who drive pickup trucks and live in the mid-west. The US government wants to change that. In 49 states it is required by law for adults to wear seat belts, and in 34 of them it is legal for a police officer to pull you over and give you a citation for it. In these states, the usage rate of seatbelts is 91.2%, whereas in the states where you can only be ticketed if you are pulled over for a different offense the usage rate is a mere 78.6%.
Why you should wear your seat belt?
If the statistic that 50% of fatal car crash victims weren’t wearing a seatbelt hasn’t convinced you, ask any one of our attorneys at Frank Azar Car & Truck Accident Lawyers why you should wear a seatbelt. Our attorneys have met with hundreds of clients whose lives have been saved by buckling up, and have also met the many families whose family member did not make it because they failed to buckle up. You may not be able to control if you have a car accident, but you can certainly increase your chances of walking away from it.
If you have been unfortunate enough to find yourself in a car crash, regardless of if you were wearing your seatbelt, seeking representation is always a good idea. At Frank Azar Car & Truck Accident Lawyers a case consultation is always free. Give us a call today and we will fight to get the compensation you deserve.
