Safety Devices

In Louisiana and elsewhere, it pays to buckle up and have vehicles equipped with air bags. When used, lap/shoulder safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants by 45% and reduce the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50%. If you are riding in a light truck, safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 60% and moderate-to-critical injury by 65%

In 2003, safety belts saved an estimated 14,903 lives among passenger vehicle occupants over 4 years old in the United States. If all passengers wore seat belts in 2003, an additional 6,081 lives could have been saved. Safety belts significantly reduce the likelihood that a passenger will be ejected from a vehicle. Among crashes in which a fatality occurred in 2003, only 1% of restrained passenger car occupant were ejected, compared to 29% of unrestrained occupants. Air bags, when used in combination with seat belts, offer the best available protection for vehicle occupants.

Child restraints saved an estimated 446 lives in 2003 among children below the age of 5. Of the 446 lives saved, 401 were attributed to the use of child safety seats while 45 lives were spared with the use of adult safety belts. If all children under the age of 5 used safety belts in 2003, an estimated 106 additional lives could have been saved in the United States. In Louisiana, we can do our part in reducing auto accident injuries amongst children by making sure children are always buckled up or in a car seat if appropriate.

All Statistics from Injury Facts, 2001 and 2005-2006 Editions, National Safety Council