Seat Belts Help Prevent
Death in SUV Rollovers
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Sports utility vehicle (SUV) drivers who buckle up have a good chance of staying alive in the event of a rollover, according to a new report on seat belt effectiveness conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
``This new study shows that seat belts are 80% effective in reducing fatalities in light trucks (including sport utility vehicles) during rollover crashes compared with a 21% effectiveness in reducing fatalities in passenger cars during side impact crashes,'' according to the agency.
The author of the report, Dr. Joseph Tonning of the NHTSA in Washington, DC, notes the importance of the findings given the propensity for SUVs to roll over during crashes.
Overall, seat belt effectiveness in reducing fatalities remains at 45% for passenger cars and 60% for light trucks and SUVs--figures that have not changed since the last time the group studied seat belt effectiveness, in 1988.
While seat belts are ``the single most effective occupant protection device in vehicles,'' the type of crash plays a major role in how well a seat belt can do its job, according to the report published in the June issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Seat belts were found to be 60% effective in reducing deaths when a passenger car strikes a fixed object such as a tree or a pole in a frontal impact crash, while they are 39% effective in reducing fatalities when a passenger car strikes a larger vehicle head-on.
From 1975 to 1999, seat belts are credited with saving an estimated 123,213 lives, with 11,197 saved in 1999 alone, the report indicates.
``In June 2000, the national seat belt use among front seat passengers was estimated at 71%. If the seat belt use rate in the United States had been 90%, an additional 5,500 lives would have been saved and 121,000 injuries prevented,'' Tonning writes.
Through legislation and strict enforcement, Tonning argues that such a high rate of seat belt use is not unrealistic. He points to California and New Mexico as states that have achieved seat belt usage rates nearing 90%.
SOURCE: Annals of Emergency Medicine 2001;37:728-729.
