Instead of a reader asking me a question, this week I have a question for you: Do you know anyone that’s received a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt? It’s entirely possible that you don’t. Washington ranks in the top five states for seatbelt use, with close to 95 percent of vehicle occupants wearing a seatbelt. The four states ahead of us are mostly neighbors; Oregon, California, Hawaii (sort of a neighbor), and Georgia, the geographic outlier. The state with the lowest rate of seatbelt use? New Hampshire, at about 68 percent. Its state motto is, “Live free or die.” I’m pretty sure General John Stark was not thinking about seatbelts when he wrote that in 1809, but that’s the reason many New Hampshirites (is that what you call them?) give for why they don’t want a seatbelt law.
How do we know the percentage of seatbelt users in each state? Because there are people watching you drive. Creepy? It’s not as bad as it sounds. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) conducts annual seatbelt observations using trained observers to watch for seatbelt use at pre-identified locations around the state. If you want all the details about this spying (it’s not really spying) you can read the full report at the WTSC website.
Your likelihood of knowing someone who has been ticketed for a seatbelt violation partly depends on who you hang out with. Sure, anyone can make a mistake and forget to wear their seatbelt on the same day that we’re having statewide seatbelt emphasis patrols (not mentioning any names) but there are people who are more and less inclined to wear a seatbelt. We know this because collision investigators document all kinds of details when investigating serious injury and fatal crashes. Here are the top five factors in fatal crashes that overlap with lack of seatbelt use:
Number five: Distraction. I guess it makes sense that someone who gets distracted while driving may also get distracted while getting ready to drive and forget to put on a seatbelt. Twenty-eight percent of non-seatbelt-use fatalities also involve distraction.
Number four: Unlicensed drivers. It’s probably not a stretch to think that someone who drives a car without bothering to get a license, or drives a car after having their license suspended, is less concerned than the average driver regarding seatbelt use. Thirty-two percent of non-seatbelt-use fatalities are unlicensed drivers.
Number three: Age. Drivers between ages 16 and 29 make up over a third (35 percent) of non-seatbelt-use fatal crashes. The data can’t tell us if that’s because young drivers lack experience or just have an under-developed sense of mortality; either way, age certainly factors into the vulnerability of a driver.
Number two: Speed. You’d think that the faster you drive, the more you’d want to buckle up. Apparently that’s not the case. Over half (52 percent) of drivers killed while not wearing a seatbelt were also speeding. Given that many speed-related crashes also involve young drivers, maybe we should put more emphasis on teaching physics to new drivers. When it comes to the forces involved in high-speed crashes, the science confirms that as speed goes up chances of survival in a crash goes down. We’ll save the actual math for a future column.
Number one: Impairment. People that habitually wear a seatbelt when sober forget their habit when buzzed/drunk/stoned/high. Of all the dangerous driving behaviors we deal with, impairment kills the most people. The solution here isn’t telling impaired people to remember to wear a seatbelt; it’s preventing impaired driving. Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of unrestrained fatal crashes also involved impairment.
If you look at fatal crash data for a while you’ll start to notice a lot of overlap. Serious crashes often result from a series of bad decisions; impairment and speed, distraction and not wearing a seatbelt, crash factors mix and match with disastrous results. If your social group is made of young drivers with suspended licenses who like to party, drive fast and text, your friends probably don’t wear seatbelts either. Beyond knowing someone who’s gotten a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt, you’re also much more likely to have lost a friend in a traffic crash. Last year in Washington 7.6 out of every 100,000 residents died in traffic crashes. But that doesn’t mean we all have the same risk. Safe driving behaviors change your personal driving risk equation. One final note about seatbelts: Right now law enforcement agencies across Washington are focusing on seatbelt violations, so now would be a good time for the five percent who don’t wear a seatbelt to pick up the habit. I’d recommend starting today, but if you’re a procrastinator, make the change by May 20. That day is dedicated to nation-wide seatbelt enforcement.