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By Louis Neipris, M.D. HealthAtoZ writer
Buckle up for safety. Don't speed. Don't drink and drive.
When was the last time you heard this kind of advice? Unless you took a recent course in driver education, years may have passed since you were actually told how to drive. However, the following statistics bear out the need for a driver safety wake-up call:
- There were more than 43,000 deaths due to motor vehicle accidents nationwide in 2005 (about 119 each day).
- The national safety belt use rate has increased to 82 percent as of 2005, but many states fall below this level.
- Alcohol is involved in about 39 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities.
- Drowsiness (and even dosing off while driving) has been blamed for 4 percent or 1,500 motor vehicle crash-related fatalities in one year.
- More than two-thirds of crash fatalities were caused by aggressive driving, including:
- Speeding
- Excessive lane changes
- Tailgating
- Running red lights
Buckle up
FACT: Nationwide, from 1975 through 2005, an estimated 211,128 lives were saved because people were wearing seat belts.
There are safe driving educational campaigns and seat belt law enforcement efforts nationwide. Still, more than half of all deaths from car accidents are because the person was not buckled in.
If seat belts save lives, why don't more people buckle up? In one survey, teenagers said they disliked seatbelts because they are either uncomfortable or mess up their clothing. Others believed that a seat belt was not needed when traveling a short distance.
If you have any reservations about buckling up every time, consider:
- A vehicle going 30 miles per hour (mph) is the same kind of impact as a fall from a third story window. So a crash during a short trip to the store can produce the force of a fall from 30 feet.
Seat belts will not eliminate a crash's violent impact on the body. However, lap and shoulder belts, properly fastened, do prevent the driver and passengers from being tossed around inside the vehicle or thrown through the windshield. Severe bruises, a broken rib or even a ruptured spleen can still be sustained when wearing a seat belt. But the chances of surviving an auto crash are much, much greater if you buckle up.
A common misconception is that seat belts themselves cause severe or even life-threatening injury, especially if the driver is pregnant. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology states that the most common cause of miscarriage is trauma sustained in an automobile accident - when the pregnant driver or passenger is unrestrained. Lap and shoulder belts protect against severe injury and death. The proper placement protects the mother while reducing the violent impact on the womb.
If you are pregnant, fasten the lap belt under the abdomen and the shoulder harness across the breast.
Buckling up is the law in most states. There are two types of seat belt laws: primary and secondary. Under a primary seat belt law, an officer can stop a driver because he or she is not wearing a seat belt, just like any other traffic violation. Under the secondary seat belt law, an officer can only cite a driver for not wearing a seat belt if the driver is stopped for some other violation.
Seat belt laws have reduced deaths by 9 percent overall. Educating teenagers about the importance of seat belt use and the law enforcement consequences has helped increase the number of young drivers who buckle up, and has also helped reduce the number of deaths.
Don't speed
FACT: Two-thirds of traffic accident deaths involve people traveling at high speeds.
You know from basic driver education courses - and common sense - that a car does not need to be going very fast to do a lot of damage to the driver, passengers, another car or a pedestrian. In 2005, 38 percent of male drivers (15-to-20 years old) were involved in fatal crashes involving excessive speed. And 86 percent of speeding-related fatalities happened on roads other than major highways.
The speed limits reflect the maximum allowable safe driving speed, after which your ability to control the vehicle rapidly decreases. An individual's ability to control the vehicle at high speeds varies, and depends on one's experience, road conditions and alcohol, among other factors. Speeding is one of the aggressive driving behaviors, such as excessive lane changing and tailgating, blamed for more than two-thirds of highway deaths.
Red means stop!
FACT: Nearly 1,000 Americans die each year due to motorists who run red lights.
Drivers who run red lights may or may not be going past the speed limit. Most deaths occur in urban areas, on side streets. Often, innocent pedestrians are killed. Whatever the circumstances, no matter how late you are, taking that extra chance and running a red light will always mean risking some one else's life, as well as your own.
Fewer drivers are getting away with running red lights these days. Several states and municipalities have installed cameras to monitor for traffic light violators. The camera is programmed to photograph both the license and the driver's face. Since implementation, red-light running has decreased, as has the number of deaths.
Don't drink and drive
FACT: Drunken driving is the nation's most frequently committed violent crime, killing someone every 31 minutes.
It is true that more people are fastening their seat belts, thus improving their chances of surviving a car crash. In 2005, the number of people killed in a car accident where alcohol was a factor was 16,885. This represented 39 percent of the total people killed in all traffic crashes, according to National Highway Traffic and Safety Association data.
Keep these points in mind
- The alcohol content in a 12 oz. regular bottle of beer equals one 4 oz. glass of wine or one 1 oz. shot of hard liquor.
- Before going out, if you plan to drink, designate a non-drinking driver.
- Neither a shower nor a cup of coffee will make you sober. Only time reduces the blood alcohol concentration (about 0.15 an hour).
- Depending on how high your blood alcohol level is when you go to bed after a night of drinking, you could be past the legal blood alcohol level for much of the following day. So when you drive to work the next day, you may still be legally intoxicated.
Remember: driving drunk murders and maims.
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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