Over the weekend McAlester had four automobile accidents. One tragically resulted in death. A 39 year-old woman died Saturday night in a single vehicle accident. She was ejected five feet from where her pickup came to rest. Seat belts and air bags were equipped but not used.
The NHTSA (National Highway Safety Traffic Safety Administration) claimed that seat belts save over 10,000 lives every year in the U.S. Depending on which state you are in, not wearing a seatbelt is either a primary offense or a secondary offense, with the exception of New Hampshire, which does not have a law requiring people over age 18 to wear a seat belt. Primary offense meaning a police officer can pull you over for the seatbelt law violation alone, and secondary offense meaning you can only be punished for the seatbelt law violation if you’re already pulled over for another reason.
The NHTSA reports Overall Traffic Fatalities Reach Record Low in 2008 the number of overall traffic fatalities reported in 2008 hit the lowest level since 1961 and fatalities in the first three months of 2009 continue to decrease. The fatality rate, which accounts for variables like fewer miles traveled, also reached the lowest level ever recorded. These encouraging numbers were announced by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on July 2. The ’08 highway death count was 37,261, a drop of 9.7 percent from ’07, while the ’08 fatality rate was 1.27, about 7 percent below the rate of 1.36 for ’07.
The following are results for the best effectiveness estimate for wearing your seat belt:
|
Unrestrained Fatalities |
Risk Ratio |
Belted Fatalities |
|
|
Frontal Single-Veh Driver |
42,082 |
0.2808 |
11,817.50 |
|
Frontal Single-Veh RF |
10,581 |
0.3371 |
3,556.70 |
|
Frontal MultiVeh Driver |
50,222 |
0.4140 |
20,793.40 |
|
Frontal Multi RF |
14,095 |
0.4494 |
6,334.70 |
|
Left Single-Veh Driver |
9,126 |
0.5990 |
5,446.80 |
|
Left Single-Veh RF |
1,430 |
0.4112 |
588.00 |
|
Left Single-MultiVeh Driver |
17,767 |
0.6410 |
11,388.80 |
|
Left MultiVeh RF |
2,549 |
0.5423 |
1,382.30 |
|
Right Single-Veh |
7,342 |
0.3940 |
2,892.70 |
|
Right Single-Veh RF |
3,880 |
0.5186 |
2,012.00 |
|
Right MultiVeh Driver |
11,089 |
0.4594 |
5,094.10 |
|
Right MultiVeh RF |
8,878 |
0.7991 |
7,094.70 |
|
Rollover Driver |
21,970 |
0.1848 |
4,059.10 |
|
Rollover RF |
6,103 |
0.2022 |
1,234.20 |
|
Rear & Other Driver |
5,374 |
0.3114 |
1,673.30 |
|
Rear & Other RF |
2,072 |
0.3547 |
734.90 |
Uncorrected Fatalities 214,560 86,1331.10
UEF Correction *1.369
CORRECTED FATALITIES 214,560 117,970
FATALITY REDUCTION FOR 3-POINT BELTS 45.02%
As the chart shows – the 214,560 unrestrained fatalities would have decreased to 86,133 if all occupants had worn seat belts.
For more information or if you have been injured in an automobile accident contact Noble McIntyre or Jeremy Thurman at (866) 917-5200.
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