Factors Influencing Safety Belt Use

Publisher Summary Today, safety belts are standard equipment for every seating position in every vehicle produced for sale. Since their early development, researchers have continued to assess the effectiveness of safety belts and make design improvements. Early safety belt designs reduced injuries compared to riding unbelted, but they also had some serious weaknesses. For example, the first designs typically included only one belt strap. Designs with a strap that only went across the waist left a motorist's upper torso vulnerable to injury, and designs with only a sash sometimes resulted in motorists sliding forward under the sash belt during a collision. A more effective design combined the two into one belt, a variation of which is still used in the most modern vehicles. The modern three-point belt is a very effective safety device. Given a crash, these belts are estimated to reduce the likelihood of a fatality by approximately 40–45% and reduce the likelihood of an injury by as much as 80%, depending on the type of crash and vehicle. Most cars today also include many other safety features as standard equipment, as well as optional safety equipment. However, there is an important key difference between safety belts and other safety features such as air bags and third brake lights: Motorists must use safety belts in order for them to be effective. The effectiveness of safety belts, and of mandatory use laws, has resulted in enormous public health savings in terms of both injuries and fatalities, in addition to medical costs. However, there remains room for improvement, .