Traffic
Safety Facts
1995
Traffic
Safety Facts
1995
U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Restraint System Effectiveness
Benefits of Child Restraint Use
The U.S. Department of Transportation's July 1984 rulemaking on automatic
occupant protection began a wave of legislative action that resulted in the
enactment of safety belt use laws in many states. The goal of those laws
is to promote belt use and thereby reduce deaths and injuries in motor vehicle
crashes.
The first mandatory belt use law was enacted in the State of New York in
1984. As of December 1995, 49 states and the District of Columbia had belt
use laws in effect. The laws differ from state to state, according to the
type and age of the vehicle, occupant seating position, etc.
In 38 of the states with belt use laws in 1995, the law specified secondary enforcement. That is, police officers are permitted to write a citation only after a vehicle is stopped for some other traffic infraction. Eleven states had laws that allowed primary enforcement, enabling officers to stop vehicles and write citations whenever they observe violations of the belt law.
A 1995 NHTSA study, Safety Belt Use Laws: An Evaluation of Primary
Enforcement and Other Provisions, indicates that states with primary
enforcement safety belt laws achieved significantly higher belt use than
did those with secondary enforcement laws. The analysis suggests that belt
use among fatally injured occupants was at least 15 percent higher in states
with primary enforcement laws.
In 1995, the average observed belt use rate reported by states with secondary
enforcement laws was 61 percent, compared to 75 percent in states with primary
enforcement laws.
The first mandatory child restraint use law was implemented in the State
of Tennessee in 1978. Since 1985, all 50 states and the District of Columbia
have had child restraint use laws in effect. These laws also cover various
segments of the population.
Restraint System Effectiveness
Research has found that lap/shoulder safety belts, when used, reduce the
risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent
and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent. For light truck
occupants, safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 60 percent and
moderate-to-critical injury by 65 percent.
Recent NHTSA analyses indicate an overall fatality-reducing effectiveness
for air bags of 11 percent, over and above the benefits from using available
safety belts.
Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats has found them to reduce
fatal injury by 69 percent for infants (less than 1 year old) and by 47 percent
for toddlers (1-4 years old).
| Restraint Type | 1982-87 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Belts | 14,385 | 5,983 | 6,353 | 6,596 | 7,022 | 7,403 | 8,372 | 9,175 | 9,797 |
| Air Bags | 0 | 3 | 6 | 39 | 75 | 113 | 195 | 292 | 475 |
| Child Restraints | 838 | 248 | 238 | 222 | 247 | 268 | 286 | 308 | 279 |
Benefits of Safety Belt Use
Starting in 1994, NHTSA revised its method for calculating lives saved
by safety belts. The note at the bottom of the page explains the new method.
The estimates in Table 1 reflect this revision.
In 1995, 31,897 occupants of passenger vehicles (cars, light trucks, vans,
and utility vehicles) were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes, 76 percent
of the 41,798 traffic fatalities reported for the year.
Among passenger vehicle occupants over 4 years old, safety belts saved an estimated 9,797 lives in 1995.
At the high use rates achieved in other countries (85 percent), safety belts could have saved the lives of 16,717 passenger vehicle occupants over age 4 (that is, an additional 6,920) for the nation as a whole in 1995. If ALL passenger vehicle occupants over age 4 wore safety belts, 19,632 lives (that is, an additional 9,835) could have been saved in 1995.
The 1996 NHTSA study, Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES), linked traffic and medical records in seven states to assess total costs of injury from motor vehicle crashes. The study found that the average inpatient costs for crash victims who were not using safety belts were 55 percent higher than for those who were belted.
Ejection from the vehicle is one of the most injurious events that can happen
to a person in a crash. In fatal crashes, three-quarters of the occupants
who were ejected from passenger cars were killed. Safety belts provide the
greatest protection against occupant ejection: in fatal crashes in 1995,
only 2 percent of restrained passenger car occupants were ejected, compared
to 25 percent of unrestrained occupants.
Air Bags
In 1995, NHTSA revised its method for calculating lives saved by air
bags. The estimates in Table 1 reflect this revision.
Air bags, combined with lap/shoulder
safety belts, offer the most effective safety protection available today
for passenger vehicle occupants.
As of September 1, 1995, it is estimated that over 31 million air-bag-equipped passenger vehicles have been sold: 18 million with driver air bags and 13 million with dual air bags.
In 1995, an estimated 475 lives were saved by air bags. From 1987 to 1995, a total of 1,198 lives were saved.
Beginning September 1997 (model year 1998), all new passenger cars will be required to have driver and passenger air bags, along with manual lap/shoulder safety belts. The same requirement applies to light trucks beginning in September 1998.
Air bags are supplemental protection and are not designed to deploy in all crashes. Most are designed to inflate in a moderate-to-severe frontal crash.
Some crashes at lower speeds may result in injuries, but generally not the serious injuries that air bags are designed to prevent. For this and other reasons, lap/shoulder belts should always be used, even in a vehicle with an air bag.
Children in rear-facing child seats should not be placed in the
front seat of cars equipped with passenger-side air bags. The impact of a
deploying air bag striking a rear-facing child seat could result in injury
to the child.
Benefits of Child Restraint
Use
In 1995, there were 616 occupant fatalities among children under 5 years
of age. Of these 616 fatalities, an estimated 328 (or 57 percent) were totally
unrestrained.
Among children under 5 years old, an estimated 279 lives were saved in 1995 by child restraint use. Of these 279 lives saved, 232 were associated with the use of child safety seats and 47 with the use of adult belts.
At 100 percent child safety seat use for children under 5, an estimated 479
lives (that is, an additional 200) could have been saved in 1995.
Over the period 1982 through 1995, an estimated 2,934 lives were saved by
child restraints.
According to observational surveys conducted by the states and reported to NHTSA, 68 percent of passenger vehicle occupants used their safety belts in 1995.
The reported restraint use rate among all occupants of passenger cars involved
in fatal crashes was 54 percent in 1995. The use rate for drivers was higher
(58 percent), and the highest use rate was reported for children age 4 and
under (65 percent).
