Forget ‘Individualism’; Buckling Up Saves Lives
By Gabrielle Giffords
Arizona Daily Star Op-Ed
I have made two observations while serving in the Legislature. The first is that Arizonans don’t like to be told what to do by their elected officials.
The second is that Arizonans don’t like paying for the mistakes of others. Seat belt laws fall somewhere in between these two paradigms.
Some people oppose a primary seat belt law in Arizona because they don’t want “Big Brother” dictating how they will live their lives.
Interestingly, surveys from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicate that the vast majority of the public (87 percent) favor laws that require drivers and front-seat passengers to wear seat belts.
Arizona already has laws requiring every front-seat occupant of a motor vehicle to wear a properly fastened seat belt. The current debate really is over the best way to enforce that law. There are good reasons not to restrict the enforcement of seat belt laws. The risk of death and serious injury associated with using the most widely used mode of transportation, motor vehicles, is one that affects all of us. In the United States, someone is injured in a car crash every nine seconds, and someone is killed every 13 minutes. If 90 percent of Americans buckle up tomorrow, we will prevent more than 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries annually.
There may be some validity to the argument that seat belt use is a “personal responsibility,” but the economic costs of death and injury impose a significant economic burden on law-abiding, responsible drivers.
Nationally, Medicare and Medicaid pay more than a quarter, or $3.7 billion, of the nearly $14 billion, in health care costs associated with motor vehicle crashes. Billions more are paid by all of us each year through higher auto insurance rates.
In 2001, 63 children younger than 14 were killed in Arizona road crashes. Another 109 deaths occurred among youth ages 15 to19. The highest number of auto-related deaths - 206 - occurred among those in the 25- to 34-year-old age range.
We know that 45 percent of these deaths were preventable, and 50 percent of serious injuries from motor vehicles could have been avoided. How? Through the use of seat belts.
Passing a primary seat belt law in Arizona would immediately increase their use by 11 percent. Since children model adult behavior, adults who don’t wear a seat belt send a message that it is all right not to wear a seat belt. Research by the Arizona Department of Public Safety shows that if a driver is unbuckled, 70 percent of the time children riding in that vehicle won’t be buckled either.
Education alone is not doing the job with young people, especially males between the ages of 16 and 25. They are the nation’s highest-risk drivers, with more drunk driving, speeding, and crashes, but they simply do not believe they will be injured or killed. The only proven motivation for this hard-to-reach population is stronger seat belt laws and high-visibility seat belt enforcement campaigns.
According to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, a primary seat belt law in Arizona would save 73 lives a year. Taxpayers would save approximately $73 million. There would also be a reduction in serious injuries, with a total savings of about $31.9 million.
In addition Arizona would be eligible for millions of dollars in additional federal funding by adopting laws that encourage responsible seat belt practices.
Most people agree that saving lives with seat belts is at least as important as making sure that vehicle lights are functional and littering laws are enforced.
The Legislature is preparing to debate the issue of seat belt laws, just as it has done during many past sessions. It is important to hear all the facts and allow all stakeholders to weigh in as they see fit.
Regardless of people’s opinions concerning the role of government, the truth is that increasing seat belt use is still the single most effective thing we can do to save lives and reduce injuries on our roadways.
* Democrat Gabrielle Giffords represents District 28 in the Arizona Senate.
