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Each year, the NHTSA conducts research on current traffic laws in the United States, including seat belt laws (currently in place in 49 of the 50 states), motorcycle helmet laws, frontal airbags, and minimum drinking age law. The NHTSA examines the effectiveness of each of these laws in preventing auto accidents, the seriousness of injuries in different categorized auto accidents, as well as the number of additional lives that would have been saved had the laws been adhered to by 100 percent of all drivers.
The 2007 auto accident statistics in each of these categories were recently released and the results are as follows:
The number of lives saved in car accidents due to the mandatory child restraint laws for children age 4 and younger was 382 in 2007 and 2,135 lives saved in the period from 2003 to 2007.
Mandatory seat belt laws for people age 5 and older contributed to 15,147 lives saved in auto accidents in 2007, and the 76,936 lives saved from 2003 to 2007.
Mandatory installation of frontal airbags in all new vehicles beginning in 2002 contributed to 2,788 lives being saved last year alone, and motorcycle helmets saved 1,784 lives in 2007 alone.
The Federal minimum drinking age law is estimated to have saved 826 lives in 2007. (Since its inception in 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act has come under much scrutiny by a number of organizations opposed to the 21 year age limit despite the fact that numerous studies conducted in the minimum drinking age have shown that the 21 age limit is saves many more lives each year due to drinking and driving and DUI auto accidents, as opposed to an 18 minimum drinking limit.) As auto accident attorneys, we are concerned not just about the new automobile driver, but what about innocent victims who were not at fault who are injured in a a traffic accident.
The NHTSA also conducted a study estimating the additional number of lives that could have been saved in 2007 had there been 100 percent enforcement of these auto accident prevention laws. These results revealed that an additional 5,024 lives could have been saved in 2007 alone had all people been properly restrained when involved in an auto accident, and 800 additional lives could have been saved had all motorcyclists worn helmets.
Our car accident attorneys see the effects of not adhering to these laws everyday in the case we handle in which people are unnecessarily injured or killed because they were not following the law. Therefore, we urge everyone to always buckle up, and to obey all traffic laws, because doing so could save your life if you become involved in an auto accident.
Please contact us for a free consultation with an experienced car accident attorney — we speak both English and Spanish — at (800) 655-6585. Click here and you may also submit your case for a Free Review. No fee if no recovery.
SENIOR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY & FIRM FOUNDER
Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1987. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes how insurance companies work and how they decide how much to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael’s inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents. Learn more about Michael Pines