Why Passengers Should Wear Seatbelts - You as driver and you as passenger

Only this week I was a back seat passenger in a car and the driver and front seat passenger told me, 'no need to wear a seatbelt, it's not the law, he's a careful driver'.

That's not the point. You can be hit by a car from behind or sideways at a crossing. You could be hit an obstruction ahead. Or the tires can slip on a wet road or hit an obstruction or an animal or pedestrian or vehicle pulling out, or bike overtaking from behind or somebody overtaking from the opposite direction.

Seatbelts also stop the person in the back seat becoming a bullet or cannon ball to kill the person in the front seat. Save lives of yourself and others. Seat belts are there for a reason. Seatbelts save lives, save you from worse injuries. 

I know of two events in 2022 which survival or being saved from worse injuries has been attributed to wearing seatbelts.

1 UK

2 USA

Car manufacturers have experimented with automatic seatbelts. These are not yet the norm in 2022.

However, now in the UK the car bleeps if seatbelts are not worn.

Useful websites

https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/occupant-protection/seat-belts/#:~:text=From%201975%20to%202017%2C%20seat,car%20occupant%20deaths%20by%2045%25

Crash victim says seatbelt saved her life:

https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/park-royal-crash-victim-said-24850425

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt

Australia

https://rac.com.au/car-motoring/info/seat-belts

UK

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/wearing-seat-belt-and-exemptions#:~:text=The%20law%20requires%20that%20drivers,restraint%20as%20required%20by%20law.

Singapore

https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/RTA1961-S688-2011

worldwide detailed studies of speeds ages etc

https://nacto.org/docs/usdg/relationship_between_speed_risk_fatal_injury_pedestrians_and_car_occupants_richards.pdf

Seat Belts Why You Should Buckle Up

Woman using seatbelt. Author State Farm, Flikr, from Wikipedia.

Problem
If you get told 'it isn't necessary' just tell them, it is for me because my insurance company demands it. They won't pay out if I am not covered by safety precuastions.

Taxis
I sometimes get the same message from drivers in taxis. 'No need to do up the seat belt.'

Tuk-tuks
If you are in Cambodia, and your hotel sends a vehicle to collect you from the airport, it could be alimo, or the local tuk-tuk. Our open-sided tuk-tuk, with a motorbike up front, was open sided. My immediate fear was of losing my hat which kept lefting in the breeze. Despite the lack of seatbelts, when we returned to the airport, in the relative safety of an ordinary car with seatbelts, I was a little disappointed.

I see no taxi. That tuk-tuk is our taxi! Cambodia. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

So, it is quite a relief to be in a taxi with a seat-belt. I am wary of riding without seatbelts. My friend was in a car accident. She was seated in the middle with no seat belt. She was thrown forward. Whose insurance was going to pay up?

Insurance
If you were an insurance company agent, you would be saying your company would not pay out for injuries caused by no seat belt. In some countries the driver is held responsible if passengers don't do up seatbelts and the car makes an irritating noise.

You do the seat belt up in the back for four reasons:
1 It protects the back seat passenger from  injury.
2 It protects the front seat passenger from injury when the back seat passenger rams into the front seat - which can kill the front seat passenger. See end note a).
3 It saves endless hassle ith insurance companies which won't pay up or reduce the payout because the passenger is deemed to have contributed to the extent of the injuries.
4 You can lose friends over disputes about the fault leading to the injury.

a) Wikipedia gives this evidence:

1.  Ichikawa M, Nakahara S, Wakai S; Nakahara; Wakai (January 2002). "Mortality of front-seat occupants attributable to unbelted rear-seat passengers in car crashes". Lancet. 359 (9300): 43–4. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)07279-3. PMID 11809187.

Seatbelt sign warning light on dahsboard of vehicle. Photo by F Sultana in Wikipedia.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photogapher, author and speaker.