More Americans than ever are buckling up, the government reported Friday, crediting enhanced police enforcement and a growing awareness that seat belts can save lives.

The Department of Transportation said seat belt use rates reached 82 percent in 2005 nationally, an all-time high and an increase of 2 percentage points from the previous year. Seat belt use was at 71 percent in 2000.

"The fact that safety belts save lives is starting to click with the American people," Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in an address to Mothers Against Drunk Driving on Friday.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050930/050930_seatbelts_050930_10a.hmedium.jpg

The government also reported that use of government-approved motorcycle helmets dropped from 58 percent to 48 percent nationally. Helmet use in states without mandatory laws was 37 percent.

With a use rate of 82 percent, Mineta said seat belts annually prevent 15,700 fatalities, 350,000 serious injuries and $67 billion in economic costs linked to traffic injuries and deaths.

The increase of 2 percentage points saved an estimated 540 lives and 8,000 serious injuries, he said.

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have passed primary seat belt laws, which allow police to stop motorists who fail to wear their seat belts. Most other states have secondary seat belt laws, which allow police to issue a seat belt violation only if a driver is stopped for another infraction.

New Hampshire has no adult safety belt law.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that states with primary belt laws averaged use rates of 85 percent, compared to 75 percent in states with secondary laws.

The Bush administration has tried to entice more states to adopt primary belt laws, offering those without the statutes grant money for highway construction and safety enforcement programs. States can also become eligible if they achieve 85 percent belt use for two consecutive years.

Among states without the primary laws, Florida could receive more than $35 million under the program, Pennsylvania would be eligible for more than $28 million, Missouri could receive more than $16 million and Massachusetts could get more than $13 million.

"It is our hope that these funds will add that extra incentive, especially at a time when budgets are tight," said Phil Haseltine, executive director of the National Safety Council's Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign.

I started wearing mine after my younger brother crashed his car back in May. His wife will be paralyzed from the waist down for life and he can just now stand up on one leg using a walker.

Or people are getting better at slipping their belt on before they stop at the roadblock.

i can't believe that 18%~ STILL don't wear seatbelts!!!

i just can't believe it. they've saved my life. if i wasn't wearing one, i wouldn't be talking to you guys today. what's wrong with people? fines should be 5 times higher than just $200.

Well I think it should be your right to die. I don't think they should even be checking. I mean what’s next you can't go swimming without a life preserver? On the other hand I think people should buckle their kids up and if you do that you should do yours so they aren't orphans.

We have too much government as it is.

bullshit boy. you can't sit there and tell me that you would want someone's brains and guts flying out of their windshield and into your cockpit upon impact!

i'll put it like this, if you have no problem with death, go ahead and keep that belt away from you. btw, have fun being dead just because you didn't "feel" like putting it on.

bullshit boy. you can't sit there and tell me that you would want someone's brains and guts flying out of their windshield and into your cockpit upon impact!

i'll put it like this, if you have no problem with death, go ahead and keep that belt away from you. btw, have fun being dead just because you didn't "feel" like putting it on.


I'm not really sure what all the cockpit stuff is about but no I don't think the government should stick their big noses in it. I think they should make sure car companies provide them and that they work but that's it.

I do wear my seat belt but I think it should be my choice to.

If people want to kill themselfs i have no desire to stop them.

If people want to kill themselfs i have no desire to stop them.

Yeah but it's not just that. The government shouldn't be in the business of protecting people from making bad choices.

Where will it ever end? Or who decides what the right choice is? Why don't we all wear helmets in the car or neck braces and why do cars go so damn fast? Allot of people would be alive today if cars could only do 55 and everyone wore helmets and neck braces.

Problem is when people inadvertantly kill themselves in car crashes, "the govt'" usually has to pay for at least part of the clean-up. From a purely cold economic standpoint, enforcing seatbelt laws could reduce the total cost of auto crashes to the govt.

So they could just be looking out for their own interests, not those of the people who "have the right to die".

Yeah but it's not just that. The government shouldn't be in the business of protecting people from making bad choices.

Where will it ever end? Or who decides what the right choice is? Why don't we all wear helmets in the car or neck braces and why do cars go so damn fast? Allot of people would be alive today if cars could only do 55 and everyone wore helmets and neck braces.


again, i beg to differ. having a good friend die in an accident who was loved by everyone would change your mind. nick had a very bright future and it all went to shit when he crashed on the side of the road without his seat belt.

it's more than just the government telling you what to do. once again, people's egos get in the way of things. you sound like a kid yelling "don't tell me what to do" to his parents when OBVIOUSLY the parent knows better.

"who decides what the right choice is?" there is only one right choice here.

it's easy: if you're stupid enough to not wear a seatbelt, then you need to be fined a large amount of money. cause GOD KNOWS you don't wanna die. it's not that you don't care if you want to commit suicide, it's that you're an IDIOT.

unbelievable.

i agree with rupert.... and amish where have you been??

What a dichotomy; Some Americans think they should be free to do anything, even stupid, dangerous things - then when they get hurt they run into court saying 'no one told me I could hurt myself, so I'm not at fault. I'm suing for damages!'

I put my seatbelt on everytime I get in the car. I don't see any reason not to.

I'm still kinda surprised at how many people don't. I was learned to click it at a young age, any time i'm in a vehicle (with the exception of forklifts or when i'm off-road) I wear a seatbelt. People say it's "uncomfortable" or whatever, but I think it's just an easy excuse for not being "cool".

Fuck 'em.... do what you want... but at least put some thought into your actions.

I support people who don't wear their seat belt when they're in the car. It's Darwinism at work. Just one more welfare kiddy I don't have to pay for later in life. :)

I don't think there are 18% of people that just decided to never wear a seatbelt, but 18% of people driving are not wearing their seatbelts on average. When I'm driving I always where a seatbelt, unless I'm just driving across the parking lot or moving my car from the street to my driveway, but when I'm a passenger I'd say I wear it 90% of the time. I know, I proably should be more likely to wear a seatbelt with someone who I may or may not be aware of their driving abilities, but every once in awhile it just isn't that easy. Maybe I'm riding in the back of a big van which has no seats, or the car is already stuffed full of people and I don't want to have to reach under someones ass to grab a belt.

Still almost all of the time I do wear a seatbelt, but I can see how there are situations where not wearing one seems like an alright idea...maybe I will die because 1 out of 1000 times I get into a car I don't put my seatbelt on, but maybe I'll die from a freak accident where the seatbelt wouldn't make a difference, or maybe I'll slip in the bathroom and crack my head open.

Seatbelts are my choice, me wearing/not wearing a seatbelt really has no effect on anyone elses safety or well-being, so if I want to risk MY life no one should be able to tell me otherwise, or make me pay another chicken-shit ticket just because I made my own discision that effects no one but me.

i guys know that it costs $thousands to rescue someone or to scope up a body and it's parts?

hence the reason why seat belt laws help reduce these expenses...........

again, i beg to differ. having a good friend die in an accident who was loved by everyone would change your mind. nick had a very bright future and it all went to shit when he crashed on the side of the road without his seat belt.

it's more than just the government telling you what to do. once again, people's egos get in the way of things. you sound like a kid yelling "don't tell me what to do" to his parents when OBVIOUSLY the parent knows better.

"who decides what the right choice is?" there is only one right choice here.

it's easy: if you're stupid enough to not wear a seatbelt, then you need to be fined a large amount of money. cause GOD KNOWS you don't wanna die. it's not that you don't care if you want to commit suicide, it's that you're an IDIOT.
unbelievable.


GOD DAMN you're all worked up about this. Hey how many friends do you have dieing right now from smoking? Why aren't you directing some of this anger towards them? Or some other stupid thing people do to kill themselves.

Using the cost to society excuse we should definitely ban smoking.

it's easy: if you're stupid enough to not wear a seatbelt, then you need to be fined a large amount of money. cause GOD KNOWS you don't wanna die. it's not that you don't care if you want to commit suicide, it's that you're an IDIOT.
tell that to the cops around here.


I see one or two wearing their seatbelts and not yacking on the cellphone. If the cops can do it, so can I :wiggle:

i agree with rupert.... and amish where have you been??


My corporate IT friends tried to keep me down. But I have beaten them once again.

The Amish hacker strikes again! :wiggle:

GOD DAMN you're all worked up about this. Hey how many friends do you have dieing right now from smoking? Why aren't you directing some of this anger towards them? Or some other stupid thing people do to kill themselves.

Using the cost to society excuse we should definitely ban smoking.

ban smoking. i have no problem with that. i smoke a cigar bout once a month and wouldn't care.

oh, and you're comparing apples to oranges. people smoke because it makes them feel good, it's more of a "lifestyle". to smokers, it's HEAVEN.

do you get a hard on if you don't wear your seatbelt? does it make you look cool? i don't know how many kids i knew growing up(even me) that didn't wear their belt because they said their parents never did, so why should they?

either way you look at it, both you and rosey, it saves lives! people who get in their car to go to work, or to pick up their children from school are NOT expecting to die on their way over their. to me, it's just like using your blinkers. you use them to prevent lives from ending and accidents from occurring. if you don't use your blinkers, it's a fine. if you don't put on your belt, it's a fine. <<<why? because it's a friendly reminder and it's the LAW anyway you look at it.

this shouldn't even be a debate.

Amish, if you get blocked again let me know... I have W A Y S around those sort of people ;)

Well I don't believe you can cheat fate by wearing a seat belt if it's your time to die you're going to get it. But on the other hand I wear my seat belt so I don't know what that means.

I guess it makes people feel better like they have some kind of control over their fate. But actually you have no control at all, you are going to die and there is nothing you can do about it. People die in car crashes everyday with or without a seatbelt.

Amish, if you get blocked again let me know... I have W A Y S around those sort of people ;)


MUU HAA HAA :firedevil

glad to have you back amish!

Well I don't believe you can cheat fate by wearing a seat belt if it's your time to die you're going to get it. But on the other hand I wear my seat belt so I don't know what that means.

I guess it makes people feel better like they have some kind of control over their fate. But actually you have no control at all, you are going to die and there is nothing you can do about it. People die in car crashes everyday with or without a seatbelt.

ok, well if you wanna get techy about it.

if i didn't wear my seatbelt last year, i would have either been killed or SERIOUSLY FUCKED up.

how's that for fate?

oh, by the way. if i wasn't wearing my saftey glasses at work, i would have been blind in one eye. instead i only had to get a few sterile stitches and a mean looking scar. it's against the rules at work to not wear your safety glasses at all times.

Anyone that has a car like a FD that corners, accelerates and brakes hard will atest that seatbelts are not just for saving lives, but helps hold ur ass in the seat instead of using the steering wheel as the "oh shit bar"

saftey glasses
safety glasses are for pussies.


all real men do the "safety squint"

Ahhh yes.

Nothing gets by the safety squint.

Anyone that has a car like a FD that corners, accelerates and brakes hard will atest that seatbelts are not just for saving lives, but helps hold ur ass in the seat instead of using the steering wheel as the "oh shit bar"


Yeah you're right and I'm not saying people shouldn't wear a seat belt. I'm just saying you can't stop the reaper and government should get smaller not bigger.


glad to have you back amish!


THANKS

i know

i know

Yeah I know you know I know you know. :wiggle:

safety glasses are for pussies.


all real men do the "safety squint"


HA!

HA!
:wiggle:

that would have meant a scar on my eye lid and loss of eye sight.... GREAT!:D

and...

Pain heals, glory fades, chick dig scars.

safety glasses are for pussies.


all real men do the "safety squint"


I'm a firm believer in the "safety squint". It saved my eye from a drop of hot solder; burned my eyelid, but my eye went unscathed.

I'm a firm believer in the "safety squint". It saved my eye from a drop of hot solder; burned my eyelid, but my eye went unscathed.
we should start a new add campain.

you will be the first "true life results" testimonial.

yea, i've got two big scars right now... too lazy to take a pic though. maybe later. for your eyes only supper;) and maybe wonner can get in on teh action if he wishes.

:p

http://www.iamlost.com/features/arr/eyepatch.jpg
Safety Squint Works For Me!

Remember kids-Safety First

maybe wonner can get in on teh action if he wishes.
wonner likes to watch :wiggle: