Did you ever wonder just how many lives and people have been affected by airbags and seat belts? We are often asked that question and there are lots of statistics out there addressing this issue. We found it amazing how much these restraint systems have increasingly changed our lives and the lives of those around us year after year.
Although some of these statistics are good news, some of them are not:
Here are the answers that tell the real story.
In 2006, NHTSA conducted the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS). The overall observed shoulder belt use rate was 82 percent in 2005, compared to 80 percent observed in 2004.
From 1987 to 2005, a total of 19,659 lives were saved.
In 2005 alone, an estimated 2,740 lives were saved by air bags.
However also in 2005, 31,415 occupants were killed (passenger cars, light trucks, vans, and SUVs) in motor vehicle traffic crashes, 72 percent of the 43,443 traffic fatalities reported for the year. Of the 31,415 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in 2005, restraint use was unknown for 2,229 (7%). Of the remaining 29,186 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities for which restraint use was known, 16,172 (55%) were unrestrained.
We found it amazing that over half of the people killed in motor vehicle accidents were not using restraints of any kind. Can you imagine how many families, friends, co-workers, husbands, wives, parents, children and loved ones whose lives would be so very different if these people used a restraint when they were driving? How many more loved ones would be with us if only for their own sake they 'buckled up'?
Airbags and seat belt safety restraint systems are helping. The data is very clear. But it only gets better when we get better. The automakers can only do so much to protect us and our family. We need to use these devices. We only need to put our infants in a child seat in the rear seat and buckle up whenever we are in a vehicle, as a driver or a passenger.
“In 2005, 66 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants 25 to 34 years old killed in traffic crashes were not using restraints — the highest percentage for any age group.”
There are lots of people counting on us to do the right thing.
(Source of information obtained from National Safety Council.)