California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
A new report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that California has the second highest rate of seat belt users in the United States, only slightly behind Oregon. According to the report, 93.2% of Californians say they always use a seatbelt. This seatbelt data shows that California car accident injuries and deaths have been reduced due to increased seatbelt use.
California is one of the states with strict seatbelt enforcement laws, where a driver can be pulled over when police see an occupant of the vehicle without a seatbelt on.
The Center for Disease Control’s report also found that between 2001 and 2009, the injury rate for occupants of a motor vehicle dropped by 16%. This correlates with the report’s finding that seatbelt use rose 4% from 2002 to 2008.
In news that would come as a surprise to many, the report showed that in 1982, only 11% of residents of the United States said they used seatbelts. This huge increase in seatbelt use is a big reason why car accident deaths and serious injuries have decreased. This should cause a reduction in California wrongful death and injury claims.
Using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the CDC said in its report that in 2009, 450 lives would not have been lost if vehicle occupants were wearing their seatbelts. In addition, 12,000 car accident injuries would have been prevented.
Unfortunately, many California drivers and passengers suffer serious injuries and deaths due to not following the law and not wearing their seatbelts. These car accident injuries and deaths are very preventable, which is shown by the CDC statistics. Drivers or passengers involved in a car accident in California should call our office right away, so a California personal injury attorney can help get them the recovery they deserve.