Do Seatbelts Make a Difference?

The numbers suggest they do. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety said in a news release that 352 unbelted motorists were killed during the three-year span. That makes up 41% of all of the death on Minnesota roads.

How many of these people would be alive if they had buckled up?

The studies do suggest that teenagers are using their seatbelts more, which may be a product of many of them being buckled up at a very young age. There also is that little dinging noise in most cars that will remind you if you aren't buckled up

Now there are those who will argue that not all of these people would have been saved. They will even come up with examples where people have driven into lakes, but were able to escape because they weren't buckled. To that I say "Sure", but clearly more people stay in the car when they are buckled up. Those people who are are thrown long distances and suffer major injuries and death. The limited examples will never outweigh that impact.

With any death in a Minnesota motor vehicle collision, there are many issues that will need to be reviewed. My partner, Joe Crumley, addressed this topic in a article for the Minnesota Lawyers Trial magazine. I was interviewed on the same topic. Hopefully, the study and the resulting suggested changes the future numbers for these deaths will go down.