Friday, Jan. 1, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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Despite decades of efforts to encourage drivers to wear seat belts, many Nevadans still won’t buckle up. And they’re paying for it with their lives.
That’s shown in traffic fatality statistics from 2020, which revealed that 70 of the 148 people who died on Nevada highways and streets through November were unrestrained. That’s edging toward 50% of the total fatalities, and it’s up by more than 40% compared with the same point in 2019.
What’s going on? Nobody knows, exactly, but the tragic result is a lot of deaths that could easily have been avoided. Keep in mind, too, that these deaths happened during a year when traffic volume was down significantly from 2019 due to coronavirus restrictions. During a normal year, the number of fatalities involving unrestrained drivers could have been even higher.
If you don’t wear a seat belt, here’s something you need to know: Buckling up can reduce your risk of dying in a crash by 50%. It can also greatly reduce your chances of being hospitalized with a serious injury from a collision. According to the UNLV Transportation Research Center, unrestrained drivers who were injured in crashes had 64.8% higher median hospital charges compared with injured drivers who were belted in. The dollar difference is significant: $46,943 for drivers without seat belts.
State traffic safety officials are justifiably disturbed by what they’re seeing, and are planning to launch an education program next year to encourage drivers to click in.
One element they’ll have to address is a misconception that advancements in airbags and other safety equipment have reduced or eliminated the need for seat belts.
Researchers say drivers who don’t wear restraints commonly say they thought they’d be protected without them, but that’s not the case. Airbags are designed to work with seat belts, not instead of them. In fact, not wearing a belt can increase the risk of being injured or killed by an airbag.
Nor do driver-assistance technology such as automated collection-avoidance braking or steering assistance protect drivers on their own. Those advancements reduce the chances of a collision, but they aren’t foolproof and they do nothing to protect the driver and passengers if a wreck does occur.
When a collision happens, an unbelted body keeps moving at the same speed the car was going at the point of impact. Serious and even fatal injuries occur as the body strikes the interior of the car or is ejected.
The good news here is that about 90% of drivers nationwide use seat belts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Southern Nevada drivers are generally at that level. But that still means 1 of every 10 drivers is unrestrained, and usage tends to drop off significantly in rural areas.
Beyond the education campaign, some safety advocates are calling on state lawmakers to enact what’s known as a primary seat belt law, which would allow law enforcement officers to pull over motorists for the sole reason of seeing them unrestrained in a vehicle. As it stands, Nevada has a secondary law, meaning drivers can be ticketed for not buckling up only if they’re pulled over for another infraction, such as speeding or impaired driving.
The stepped-up law is definitely worth exploring as lawmakers head into the 2021 legislative session. In an examination of 24 states with primary laws, UNLV Transportation Research Center showed that seat belt usage had increased in 23 of them.
Whether it’s by education or legislation or both, the trend needs to be addressed.
