Wearing a seat belt may save your life

The Automobile Association (AA) says a reduction of traffic fatalities is possible if seat belts are worn.

“When the new baby-seat law takes effect, car passengers under three years of age will be required to travel in an SABS-approved child seat,” the AA explains.

“We welcome this change and call on the authorities to ensure that a wide education and enforcement campaign is launched to ensure that infants receive the protection the law provides.”

According to the AA, global research has shown that wearing seat belts reduces the chance of death or serious injury in crashes by up to 75%.

A properly-worn seat belt can prevent occupants from being ejected from a rolling vehicle and research has shown that survival rates are higher for occupants who remain inside the vehicle in roll-overs.

Seat belts also increase the chances of occupants retaining consciousness after a crash, so they can free themselves from a vehicle which has caught fire or come to rest in a body of water.

“Another benefit of seat belts is that they reduce the chance of injuries caused by a vehicle’s occupants colliding with one another during crashes,” the AA says.

“Although seat belt-wearing for front seat occupants has been mandatory since 1977, it was only in 1987 that all occupants in a vehicle were required to buckle up.”

The association commented that many vehicle occupants still do not wear their seat belts when in the rear of the vehicle.

This leads to restrained front seat occupants sustaining serious injuries when unrestrained rear passengers are flung against them during a crash.

“Some people portray seat belt laws as a restriction of their freedom of choice which affects only themselves, but this is not an accurate view,” the AA says. “Apart from the risk that an unrestrained occupant poses to other people in the vehicle, unbelted drivers are less likely to be able to recover control of a vehicle after a minor collision, possibly exposing the vehicle to a far more serious crash.”

The AA also reminds occupants that air bags are not a substitute for seat belts and only function for a single deployment.

“In a crash where a vehicle suffers further impacts after the air bags have already deployed, unbelted occupants will have no protection,” says the association.

“They may survive the initial impact due to the air bags, yet be killed in a subsequent one.”

Seat belt wearing rates in South Africa are currently below 60%, meaning that countless lives are being lost due to lack of occupant restraint in crashes.

“Now that the government has recognised the importance of protecting infants in cars, it should be a priority for the traffic authorities to ensure that all other occupants obey the existing seat belt laws and buckle up,” the association concludes.