Should Seat Belts and Air Bags Be Required?

Insurance companies and lawmakers are working hard to increase the use of seat belts and to require air bags in new vehicles. Most states already require seat belts to be worn.

Consider some issues:

When a moving vehicle stops quickly, the passengers move forward toward the windshield. Seat belts change the forces of motion and prevent the passenger from moving. During an accident, air bags fill the space between the passenger and the windshield. More time is required for the passenger to reach the windshield. When the time of impact is increased, the acceleration of the passenger is decreased. Thus, the chance of injury is greatly reduced.

For some people, seat belts are inconvenient or uncomfortable. They feel seat belt laws interfere with their freedom of choice. These people believe that if they drive safely, seat belts are unnecessary. Air bags increase the cost of new vehicles. Automobile manufacturers and buyers are not willing to absorb the cost.

Air bags can cause injuries or even death when people are too close at time of deployment. Everyone should sit at least 10 inches away from where the air bag is stored. Young children who are riding in child safety seats or older children who are riding in booster seats should ride in the back seat, furthest away from an air bag. This is why children age 12 and under should always be properly buckled up in the back seat! Front seat driver and passenger side air bags only work in frontal crashes, so if your vehicle is hit on the side or rolls over, the air bag will not protect you - ONLY your seat belt, when worn properly, can do that!

Think about it: does the risk of personal injury outweigh the inconvenience of using seat belts and the cost increase of air bags?

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Three out of four crashes happen within 25 miles of home, at speeds of 45 miles per hour or less.
  • About 40% of all fatal crashes occur on roads where the posted speed limit is 30 miles per hour or less.
  • Over the past decade 62,000 lives have been saved and over a million injuries prevented by seat belts.
  • Motor vehicle crashes cost American taxpayers over 100 billion dollars every year.
  • In a 30 mph crash, a 15 pound child can generate an impact force greater than 300 pounds!

HOW SEAT BELTS STOP YOU IN A CRASH

  • One tenth of a second after impact the motor vehicle comes to a stop, the unbelted occupant slams into the vehicle's interior. Immediately after the unbelted occupant stops moving, his internal organs collide with other organs and skeletal systems.
  • To allow the occupant to come to a more gradual stop, all the stopping distance must be used. Holding you in your seat with a safety belt allows you to stop as the vehicle is stopping, thereby enabling you to "ride-down" the crash.
  • During a crash, safety belts distribute the forces of rapid deceleration over larger and stronger parts of the body such as the chest, hips and shoulders. Additionally, the safety belt actually stretches slightly to slow down and to increase its stopping distance. The head, face and chest are also less likely to strike the steering wheel, windshield, dashboard or the vehicle's interior frame.
  • People wearing safety belts are not thrown into another person or ejected from the vehicle.
  • Also, the safety belt helps belted drivers maintain control of the vehicle by keeping them in the driver's seat. This increases the chance of preventing a second crash

Name: ______

Period 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

In a one page journal, answer the following questions using complete sentences.

  1. Using scientific vocabulary, describe how inertia is involved in the use of seat belts and air bags in vehicles. Please be specific and complete in your description. Any facts or details that you can add to your description will be beneficial.
  2. Describe the difference between wearing just lap seat belts and wearing shoulder and lap seat belts.
  3. Explain your personal reasons for believing for or against the seat belt law. (The seat belt law makes it mandatory for everyone to wear a seat belt in a vehicle.)

1.______

2.______

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