Preview

Argumentative Essay On Seatbelts

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
940 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Argumentative Essay On Seatbelts
With increased interstate speed limits, distracted drivers, and more vehicles on the roadway buckling up could be the most important few seconds of the day. Seat belts, sometimes known as restraint devices, have been proven to reduce serious and fatal injuries in crashes. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the leading cause of death in the U.S. among people between the ages of 1-54 is traffic crashes (2017). Most states have a mandatory seat belt law however many drivers and passengers choose to not wear one. This decision can have a traumatic effect on families when loved ones are killed or seriously injured in a crash. There is one sure way to increase the chances of seeing loved ones again. Wearing a seat belt …show more content…
According to NHTSA, seat belts saved 13,941 lives in 2015, while proper restraint usage could have saved an additional 2,814 lives (2017). The CDC reported in 2009, 53% of occupants killed in crashes in the U.S. were not wearing seat belts (2014). Data collected in 2008 by NHTSA showed seat belts saved an estimated 225,000 lives (2009). The benefit of wearing a seat belt is simple; it is your best defense in a crash.
In addition to being the best defense in a crash, a seat belt offers occupants five ways to protect from serious or fatal injuries. The Pennsylvanian Traffic Injury Prevention Project reports seat belts prevent occupants from being ejected and help restrain the strongest parts of the body (2009). The Prevention Project further states seat belts spread out the force of the collision over a wider area of the body, help slow the body down, and protect the brain and spinal cord (2009). Based on research by the NHTSA it is estimated seat belts saved almost 14,000 lives, while child restraints saved an estimated 266 children age 4 and under in 2015 (2016). Regardless of how one feels about mandatory seat belt usage, statistics do not exaggerate the truth. Yet many people in the U.S. choose to not wear one despite the government’s efforts to educate the public and enforce
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Seatbelts: Has The Government Gone Too Far?
    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Seatbelts: Has The Government Gone Too Far?

    As you're driving down the highway you will most likely see "Click It Or Ticket" signs, and you may ask yourself, has the government gone too far with this law? People in America have the right to risk their own life by doing things such as rock climbing or bicycling without a helmet, the freedom to choose to wear a seatbelt is no different. Since the forming of our country our rights have become more and more regulated and the seatbelt law is only one example of this. You may want to ask yourself how many freedoms are you willing to loose before you object?…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Seat Belt Laws Research Paper
    • 2059 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Seat Belt Laws Research Paper

    Primary seat belt laws allow law enforcement officers to ticket a driver or passenger for not wearing a seat belt, without any other traffic offense taking place. Secondary seat belt laws state that law enforcement officers may issue a ticket for not wearing a seat belt only when there is another citable traffic infraction. Montana is an example of a state who uses the set of Secondary seat belt laws, and although it has been proven somewhat useful, 20.7% of Montana’s population, which is approximately 196,000 people, are still not buckling up (Primary Seatbelt Law Factsheet). In 2011 alone, there was a reported 172 vehicle occupant deaths. Out of those 172 deaths, 127 people were not wearing seatbelts (Montana Living). That is a large statistical number and often gets written off as just that, a statistic. But most Montana towns are small, with a wholesome community-feel based environment. That is 127 individual deaths which affect whole communities. If there can be at least one person saved from wearing a seatbelt, it would be beneficial to a magnitude of people. Some people however still dare to think “I don’t need to wear a seatbelt,” or “that would never happen to me.” There are many myths about seatbelt use, and I am going to help relieve some of those…

    • 2059 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Preliminary HSC Physics Research Task
    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Preliminary HSC Physics Research Task

    Seat belts are designed to retain passengers in their seats during a collision to reduce the risk of injury. Being ejected during a collision is dangerous, 3 out of 4 of people who are ejected die from their injuries. Seat belts are therefore a very effective way of reducing the risk of injury and death. As you can see from the graphic to the right, they reduce the risk of death during a crash by 45% and the risk of serious injury by 50%. There are still some cons of wearing seat belts. Sometimes, during certain types of collisions, the seat belts cause further injury.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mandatory Seat Belt Research Paper
    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mandatory Seat Belt Research Paper

    Meet John. John is a good guy. Your average Joe. One day John gets in his car to go to work. He puts on his seatbelt like the government made him and starts driving. While John is driving over a bridge he sees a duck crossing the road. He veers to avoid it and crashes into the water. John's car is sinking. He struggles with his seat belt, but he can't get it off. He can't breathe. The next morning, John's car washes up on the beach. All his family and friends are very sad. Under seat belt laws this could be you.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws: Click It Or Ticket?
    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws: Click It Or Ticket?

    More injuries and deaths have been recorded as a lack of wearing a seatbelt. Some survivals have occurred because…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Drivers Ed Journal. Module 1-2
    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Drivers Ed Journal. Module 1-2

    2. A seat belt plays the biggest role in saving your life in a crash.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Seatbelt Persuasive Speech Outline
    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Seatbelt Persuasive Speech Outline

    Thesis: Wearing a seatbelt should not be a law because citizens should have the freedom to drive without a seatbelt, as long as they are not putting someone else’s life in danger.…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Seat Belts Save Lives Research Paper
    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Seat Belts Save Lives Research Paper

    Most people who talk this way and still refuse to use the safety belt are only hurting themselves. Back in 1989 it was said that if two-thirds of the population did not pass seatbelt laws in that year, motor vehicle companies would have to install airbags and automatic seatbelts inside of all cars. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration estimated that 6,700 lives’ were saved during a 3 ½ year period. A University of Michigan study in May found that traffic deaths declined 8.7% in the first eight states with seatbelt…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Seat Belt Research Paper
    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Seat Belt Research Paper

    Every Fourteen seconds someone is injured in a traffic accident in the United States alone. On average someone dies every thirteen minutes. In fact car crashes are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of three and thirty-three. If those people had been wearing a seatbelt the chances are they would have escaped serious injury or death. Have you ever thought about what the difference of wearing your seat belt could make? Or have you ever though if wearing your seat belt would make a different outcome? Wearing a seatbelt drastically increases ones chance of surviving a car crash. Seatbelts are the single most effective way of protecting ones self in a motor vehicle, yet despite the overwhelming evidence twenty-five percent of teens do not. Its time we enforce…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws
    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mandatory Seat Belt Laws

    Car accidents are the leading cause of death and injury in the United States of both adults and children. Seat belts were invented for the purpose to help reduce death and injuries. An airbag is not as effective if it was not for a seat belt. “In the United States, a mandatory seat belt law was first enacted in New York in 1984. Lund et al. [6] found a nine percent decline in traffic fatalities in the first nine months when New York enacted mandatory seat belt law.” (Dissanayake 32) There are two types of mandatory laws, Primary Seat Belt Law and Secondary Seat Belt Law. Depending on the child’s age and weight determines how they should be buckled in. “The lifetime medical cost of crash injuries was estimated to be $18.4 billion: $7.7 billion for treated and released patients and $10.7 for hospitalized patients.” (Bergen 895)…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Arguments Against Mandatory Seat Belt Laws
    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Arguments Against Mandatory Seat Belt Laws

    Every year thousands of Americans, if not hundreds of thousands, are seriously injured or killed due to the lack of seat belt usage. Some states in the United States have a law that requires only the driver to wear a seat belt, and some require only passengers of a certain age to wear one. Wearing a seat belt should not be considered just an age issue, it should be considered important for all people inside a vehicle to wear one. The states that are the smartest are definitely the ones that require everyone to wear one, regardless of their age or their placement inside the vehicle. The United States as a whole, not just states individually, should pass a law mandating all people inside a motor vehicle to wear a seatbelt.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Seat Belt on School Bus
    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Seat Belt on School Bus

    With only a fraction of the states in the United States enacting laws that require seatbelts on school buses, most of the 23.5 million children who commute on school buses do so without the safety of a seat belt. Seat belts should be required on all school buses, not just on smaller buses or specials needs buses. This additional safety measure must be available for all who travel in a school bus. Even though opponents to seat belts suggest that requiring them would be costly, and result in diminished seating capacity / bus availability on routes, an average cost of $1.50 per child per year is a small price to pay to ensure children 's safety. With the time that children spend on school buses during the school year, belts should be a requirement just as they are in passenger cars. Considering all the fatalities and injuries that have occurred, seat belts could have changed the…

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Seat Belt Policy
    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Seat Belt Policy

    Motor vehicle accidents and the fatal injuries sustained remain the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 4 and 34 (NHTSA, 2006). Teens and young adults aged 15-29 years are the most vulnerable to motor vehicle injuries and they account for 38% of motor vehicle crash injuries (CDC, 2016). Seat belt use has been reported to save approximately 13,000 lives each year and has prevented fatal injuries (CDC, 2011). In 2010, more than 30,000 deaths from vehicle accidents were recorded, 53% of those killed were not wearing a seatbelt (NCSL, 2012).…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Kalie
    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Kalie

    Not only do people not use car seats at all, but there are a great number of children who isn’t even properly using them. A great deal of evidence shows that when properly used, child safety seats and safety belts can save lives. In fact, studies have shown that during a collision, these seats reduce the risk of death by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers. That is a large number of deaths that could be prevented just by doing the simplest tasks.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Should People Wear Seatbelts Save Lives?
    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Should People Wear Seatbelts Save Lives?

    In society today, seatbelts can either save someone’s life or take it away from them. Multiple people everyday in the United States die from not wearing a seatbelt while driving. People should wear seatbelts, not only is it the law, but it makes roads safer and it can save lives.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics