Seat Belts Save Lives

A recent survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that seat belt use has increased dramatically.  At 82 percent, the rates are the highest in our nation’s history. Recent the NHTSA reported that traffic fatalities had hit a record low, 1.46 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

The report estimated that seat belts are preventing 15,700 fatalities, 350,000 serious injuries, and in excess of $67 billion in economic losses related to traffic injuries and deaths every year. I have repeatedly said, over the years, that seat belts are absolutely unless drivers and passengers take a few seconds to use them.

The lesson for Tennessee drivers is to stop before you turn the ignition key and make sure that you and your passengers are buckled up. The lesson for state highway safety authorities is that education and enforcement work and save lives. If each one of us would stay alert and endeavor to create a culture of safety we can reduce traffic fatalities.

For this and other highway traffic safety information, or if you are involved in a serious Nashville auto accident visit our website and then contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.

In the quarter century from 1985 through 2009, the lives of 1,055,881 men, women, and children have ended violently as the result of motor vehicle crashes in the United States. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children, teens, and young adults.

Statistics from the United States Department of Transportation indicate that 33,808 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2009. Although this represents the fewest people killed in crashes in a single year since 1950, it also represents an average of 93 lives needlessly cut short on an average day as the result of crashes on our roads.

Since 2006, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has been sponsoring research to better understand traffic safety culture. The Foundation’s long-term term vision is to create a “social climate in which traffic safety is highly valued and rigorously pursued.” In 2008, the AAA Foundation conducted the first annual Traffic Safety Culture Index, a nationally-representative telephone survey, to begin to assess a few key indicators of the degree to which traffic safety is valued and is being pursued.

Summary of Major Findings

Personal experience with crashes

• One of every two Americans has been involved in a serious crash, has had a friend or relative seriously injured or killed in a crash, or both.

Perceptions of safety

• More than half of all drivers (52%) say driving feels less safe today than it did 5 years ago a 17-percentage-point increase from only a year ago. Nearly half cite some form of driver distraction as the main reason or as a reason for their feeling less safe.

Attitudes and behaviors: Drinking and driving

• Drivers view drinking and driving as a very serious threat, virtually all drivers disapprove of drinking and driving and acknowledge that others also disapprove of it, and very few drivers admit drinking and driving (fewer than 2 drivers in 100 admit having done so in the past month).

• There is almost universal support for requiring alcohol-ignition interlocks for drivers convicted of DWI more than once, and more than 2 in 3 Americans support requiring interlocks for first-time DWI offenders.

Attitudes and behaviors: Cell phone use and texting

• Cell phone use while driving has become widespread—more than 2 in 3 drivers report talking on their cell phone while driving in the past month; more than 1 in 3 say they do so fairly often or regularly. There is moderate social disapproval toward using a hand-held cell phone while driving, but over half of all drivers believe incorrectly that most others actually approve of it. Presently, people are generally accepting of hands-free cell phone use.

• Most people view drivers texting and emailing while driving as a very serious threat to their own personal safety and consider it completely unacceptable. However, many drivers don’t perceive social disapproval from others. Nearly 1 in 4 drivers (24%) admit to texting or emailing while driving.

• A two-thirds majority of Americans support restricting the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, but more people oppose (50%) than support (46%) an outright ban on using any type of cell phone (including hands-free) while driving. There is strong support for laws restricting texting while driving.

Attitudes and behaviors: Speeding

• Speeding on freeways is widespread—45% of drivers say they have driven 15 mph over the speed limit on a freeway in the past month—and nearly 1 in 3 say they consider it acceptable to do so. In contrast, driving 15 mph over the speed limit on residential streets is much less common, and is rated as one of the most unacceptable things that a driver can do.

• Nearly 2 in 3 drivers report at least occasionally feeling pressure from other drivers to drive faster than they want to drive; more than 1 in 3 say they feel such pressure fairly often or regularly.

• More than 2 in 3 Americans support having more police on the roads to enforce speed limits.

Attitudes and behaviors: Red light running

• Most drivers view it as unacceptable to drive through a traffic light that has already turned red if they could have stopped safely; however, 1 in 3 drivers admit doing this in the past month.

Attitudes and behaviors: Drowsy driving

• Most drivers view driving while extremely drowsy as a serious threat to their safety and a completely unacceptable behavior, however, more than 1 in 4 still admit to driving when they were so tired that they had a hard time keeping their eyes open at some point in the past month.

Attitudes and behaviors: Seat belt use

• Most drivers view it as unacceptable to drive without wearing a seatbelt, and more than 3 of 4 say that they never do; however, nearly 1 in 10 admits that they drive without wearing their seat belt fairly often or regularly.

• 2 of every 3 Americans support laws allowing police officers to stop and ticket a driver for not wearing a seat belt even if they’re not breaking any other law.

For information on Tennessee highway safety issues and advice if you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident contact Phillip Miller & Associates.

Practice Teen Driver Safety

A message to teen drivers from the National Highway Traffic Administration for National Teen Driver Safety Week (Oct. 17-24, 2010; Keep your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road, and both (hands and eyes) away from your cell phone while driving.

The NHTSA has developed a multi-tiered strategy to prevent motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries among teen drivers: increasing seat belt use, implementing graduated driver licensing, reducing teens’ access to alcohol, and parental responsibility.

The heart of NHTSA’s mission is keeping families safe on America’s roadways. Young drivers, ages 15- to 20-years old, are especially vulnerable to death and injury on our roadways – traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America. Mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers.

Research shows which behaviors contribute to teen-related crashes. Inexperience and immaturity combined with speed, drinking and driving, not wearing seat belts, distracted driving (cell phone use, loud music, other teen passengers, etc.), drowsy driving, nighttime driving, and other drug use aggravate this problem.

In addition to laws, safety experts agree that parents play a key role in helping teens become good drivers. Parents should not rely solely on drivers education classes to teach good driving habits and should restrict night driving, restrict the numbers of passengers riding with their teen, supervise practice driving, always require use of seat belts and choose vehicles for safety, not image. Parents can also set a good example by practicing safe driving techniques themselves.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee automobile accident caused by a teen driver contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

Click It Or Ticket

During the 2000-to-2006 period when high-visibility seat belt enforcement mobilizations were in operation in the United States, belt use increased nationwide and in virtually all States. This was the case for observed belt use, belt use in fatalities, and self-reported seat belt use. As enforcement programs continued across the country and belt use increased, public awareness and attitudes changed as well. Telephone surveys indicated that awareness of enforcement activities increased over this period, and favorable attitudes toward enforcement increased as well.

Over the period 2000 to 2006, seat belt use has risen overall, and in most occupant subgroups. For instance, belt use increased among all the fatally injured driver groups between 1999 and 2006, but it remained relatively low among nighttime drivers (33%), drivers in rural areas (44%), drivers with high blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) (31%), pickup truck drivers (32%), and drivers of the oldest vehicles (42%). In recent years, NHTSA has taken steps to reach these more resistant populations. Special high-visibility enforcement programs conducted in recent years have targeted rural residents, pickup truck occupants, and nighttime belt use.

It is clear that Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement programs conducted from 2000 to 2006 have been important factors in increasing seat belt use in the United States. Because the level of enforcement maximizes the effectiveness of these programs, the overall drop in enforcement in 2006 is a concern. The clearest and most consistent finding in this study was that secondary States with the greatest improvements in seat belt use had much greater levels of enforcement than secondary States with the least change; 3 to 4 times as many citations per capita. In contrast, media expenditures were inconsistently related to seat belt use changes.

Support for Click It or Ticket programs remains high in most States, and it is likely that if States continue with high-intensity enforcement programs, they are capable of producing further increases in belt use. Penalties for nonuse of seat belts are low in many States, and there is suggestive evidence that augmented penalties would also help to increase belt use. However, the centerpiece of efforts to increase seat belt use beyond 80% nationally are Click It or Ticket programs aimed at the general driving population, supplemented by special programs targeting low-use groups.

For more information about seat belt safety contact the experienced Nashville auto accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates.

Child Passengers Deserve Protection

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I find it difficult to believe that passengers in a vehicular crash were wearing their seatbelts when they are thrown from the vehicle. A recent crash in Cannon County leaves me wondering what the parent might have been thinking, when, while driving her children and a friend to school, crossed the centerline, over-corrected, lost control and flipped the vehicle, tossing three of the boys from the vehicle.

As a parent it is our duty to protect our children and those in our charge. Protecting them while driving means going the speed limit, avoiding distractions and insuring that they are wearing their seat belts. The mother and the guest passenger are in critical condition.

If you are a parent teach your children by example, and explain the dangers they face when they are on the roads of Tennessee. We teach by example, whether we have them in the car or not we should keep in mind that all adults are responsible for highway traffic safety.

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Tennessee car crash by a negligent driver contact the experienced Tennessee car crash lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to learn about your rights and remedies.