Aloha! Hawaii reports record seat belt use

A recent article in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper stated that seat belt use by front seat occupants had climbed to a record 97.6% in the Aloha State. This boggles my mind when I see so many people not using seat belts in central Virginia where I live. One important factor is that Hawaii has a so-called "primary" seat belt use law, where unbelted occupants can be cited directly by the police. Virginia by contrast has a so-called "secondary" law, where the car can be stopped only if some other violation, such as speeding, is first observed by a police officer.

Studies have shown that states with primary laws have greater belt use AND have fewer vehicle occupant deaths when population and other factors are taken into account. This is not surprising, because seat belts when used are very effective in saving lives in car crashes, and the unbelted tend to be the riskiest drivers and passengers. So getting these holdouts to wear belts brings the greatest benefits.

There is a rather interesting pattern as to whether a state has a primary or secondary law. Most of the coastal states (excluding New England) as well as the deep South, have primary laws. The plains and mountain states tend to have secondary laws, and the midwestern states are mixed. California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii all have use rates above 90%, the highest in the country. New Hampshire (the only state with no belt use law), the Dakotas, and West Virginia bring up the rear, with only about 50% belt use.

New England with its tradition of individualism has secondary belt use laws, except for Connecticut (primary) and of course New Hampshire (no law). Maine just recently adopted a primary law, slated to go into effect in September. Massachusetts and the upper New England states were among the last in the US to adopt mandatory belt use laws.

Thus, there isn't too much of a liberal vs. conservative pattern on seat belt laws with the "conservative" South having tougher laws than the "liberal" Northeast for example.

Noteworthy anniversary in auto safety today

According to the New York Times, " 'Today [June 24, 1983] was a very bad day for deregulators,' one lawyer insisted after the Supreme Court rejected the Reagan Administration's attempt to dump a 'passive' safety restraint rule for autos. It would be more accurate to say it was a bad day for regulators who ignore the will of Congress. The Court's stunning, unanimous ruling should signal a fresh start in the long-delayed effort to reduce traffic deaths with modern 'airbag' technology."

As we remember, Ronald Reagan was famous for his support of deregulation of big business and his distaste for what he called big government. Early in his administration, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) repealed a planned regulation to require automakers to install "passive" restraints (airbags or so-called "automatic" seat belts). This rule was to phase in with the 1982 model year and be completed by the 1984 model year.

Insurance companies, led by State Farm and the National Association of Independent Insurers, sued the government, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. On this date in 1983, the court ruled 9-0 that the Reagan administration's repeal was "arbitrary and capricious" and that the auto industry had waged "the regulatory equivalent of war" on the airbag, a war the industry had "lost -- the inflatable restraint was proven sufficiently cost effective."

This decision paved the way for the Department of Transportation, led by Elizabeth Dole, to propose an ingenious new rule that had the salutary effect of prompting states to pass mandatory seat belt usage laws AND requiring the automakers to begin installing airbags or automatic seat belts in cars starting with the 1987 model year.

As we know, airbags won out ultimately over the automatic belts (some of which were poorly designed), and all cars and light trucks are now required to have driver and passenger frontal airbags. Seat belt use in the US has risen dramatically in the past couple of decades from something like a dismal 12% for front seat occupants in 1982 to over 80% today (and 90% in a few states).

Live free or die...right?

New Hampshire is the only state in the US without a mandatory seat belt use law for adults riding in the front seats of cars. It's been the sole holdout for more than a decade. Even "macho" states like Texas, Wyoming, and Montana long have had mandatory belt use laws. Yet New Hampshire persists; after all the state motto "live free or die" appears on every NH license plate. Does this mean "live free" of belt use only to die by being ejected in a car crash?

For the first time since the 1800s, the Democrats took control of the state legislature after the elections of 2006. The New Hampshire House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill in April to require belt use. However, the bill was defeated by the Senate last week, failing on a vote of 16-8. Instead, the senators voted in favor of a measure to establish a "study commission" to consider ways to get more people to buckle up.

This seems a little silly in light of well-documented research that shows persuasion alone, such as "education" through public service ads, is ineffective in raising seat belt use. No, it seems the threat of a ticket by breaking the law is the most effective method, provided enforcement is well publicized and highly visible.

One enlightened senator, Democrat Peter Burling, countered the "nanny state" or "big brother" arguments against mandatory belt use by citing another important New Hampshire tradition -- that of the self-reliant community dealing with its own emergencies. He recalled a recent car crash in his district, "The social compact that binds us together kicked into gear," describing volunteers coming from all parts of the town to help. "You don't [buckle up], you're telling every one of those people, 'I don't care how much it hurts you to see me spattered across the road -- it's my individual liberty. And your job is to fix it.' "

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Deaths on US highways down ever so slightly in 2006

According to a press release issued by the US Department of Transportation last Friday, Secretary Mary E. Peters said that traffic deaths on U.S. roads were down slightly in 2006 according to preliminary figures, but warned that far too many lives continue to be lost.

While the number of road deaths is projected to have declined slightly nationwide from 43,443 in 2005 to 43,300 in 2006, “even one death is too many,” Secretary Peters said. Also, more than half of the occupants in passenger vehicles who were killed were not wearing their seat belts.

“Bad things happen when people don’t buckle up, and no one is immune from the damage and devastation that comes from not wearing a seat belt,” Secretary Peters said. She also praised New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine for his efforts to educate people about the need to buckle up, noting that “perhaps his pictures and his words about his crash will inspire people to buckle up every time they get in the car, no excuses.”

Crash-related injuries dropped 6 percent from 2.70 million in 2005 to 2.54 million in 2006, a rather remarkable decline. The preliminary figures also show that between 2005 and 2006, overall alcohol-related fatalities increased 2.4 percent from 17,525 to 17,941, continuing a worrisome trend in recent years as progress against alcohol-related fatal crashes has stalled. In better news, pedestrian deaths dropped slightly, from 4881 to 4768, and fatalities from large truck crashes dropped from 5212 to 5018, a 3.7 percent decline.

Unfortunately, motorcylist deaths increased for the ninth straight year, up 5.4 percent last year and rising a staggering 125 percent from a 3-decade low of 2056 in 1997 to 4798 in 2006. States really have to quit knuckling under to the motorcyclist lobby that proclaims, "let those who ride decide" to wear helmets. Helmet use must be made mandatory across the US. Slogans and calling for "education" won't get the job done.

The press release notes that the final 2006 report, pending completion of data collection and analysis, will be available in late summer.

We've still got a long, long way to go in getting the fatality count down.

Corzine crash...the aftermath

"I'm New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, and I should be dead," begins a new public service ad promoting seat belt use released ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. The governor was critically injured last month when his state trooper-driven SUV was clipped by a pickup truck on the Garden State Parkway. His SUV was traveling 91 mph in a 65 mph zone. Corzine wasn't wearing a seat belt and sustained fractures of his leg, collar bone, sternum, and 11 ribs. The trooper driving the SUV was wearing his belt and had minor injuries.

In the ad, Corzine states that he lost more than half of his blood, spent eight days in intensive care, and had to use a ventilator. He continues, "it took a remarkable team of doctors and a series of miracles to save my life when all I needed was a seat belt...I have to live with my mistake. You don't. Buckle up."

On your way home from Memorial Day activities today, remember his words. And control your speed. These can save your life!

Sudden death on the highway…so close to my home

These roadside memorials commemorate six deaths in four crashes that occurred very near my home. The first three memorials pictured stand on the side or median of a major 4-lane US highway within little more than a two-mile stretch. The last memorial is on a busy 2-lane state highway.

The one with the triple fatalities occurred on June 11, 1998. A 19-year-old University of Virginia student driving a Jeep Cherokee southbound in the right lane of the 4-lane highway was allegedly distracted by a bee that flew inside her vehicle. She swerved to the left just as a Chevy Monte Carlo was starting to pass her in the left lane.

Lois Deane, 49, driving the Monte Carlo, swerved to her left to avoid the Jeep, lost control in the median, rolled the car over and tumbled upside down into the oncoming lanes, where her car was hit by a Nissan Altima. Unfortunately, Lois had her granddaughters Renae and Cheyanne in the car, ages 10 and 4, who were completely unrestrained, ejected, and killed. Lois also was unbelted and killed. As I recall, there were two women in the Altima who were not seriously injured.

I saw photos of the Monte Carlo. The roof was crushed somewhat in the front, but the rear part of the roof was okay. There is no doubt in my mind that if the children had been properly restrained in the back seat, they would have survived, probably without serious injuries. I can't say for sure about Lois.

Ginger McCain, an employee of the University of Virginia School of Nursing, was killed on September 19, 2005. Her car was also southbound on this road and was nudged in the right rear by a Ford Focus that had edged out of an intersection from a stop sign. This occurred in heavy morning commuter traffic, and the Focus driver was probably trying to get moving into the fast-flowing traffic stream. Unfortunately, the Focus driver misjudged and Ginger’s Mitsubishi coupe was pushed off course so that her car went diagonally off the right side of the road at high speed directly into a large tree. I understand Ginger was wearing her seat belt, but the crash was too severe, and the car may not have had an airbag. However, her young daughter in a child seat in the rear was largely unharmed as I recall. Now, there is a traffic light at this intersection and a guardrail separates the roadway from the tree.

I do not know the circumstances behind Grace Kudro’s death, except that it occurred on September 19, 2006, exactly one year after that of Ginger McCain. The placement of the memorial suggests she was also southbound and went off the left edge of the highway and struck a tree in the median. She was only 23 years old and left behind two young daughters.

Travis Fitzgerald was 30 at the time of his death, which occurred on November 26, 2004, the day after Thanksgiving. He evidently died on a twisty two-lane road that carries a lot of commuter traffic. At night, deer can be commonly seen crossing the road, especially in the fall. The section on which he died has blind curves with advisory speeds of 35 mph, but hardly anyone slows down that much. The road itself until about a year ago had a posted speed limit of 55 mph (now 45 mph).

These were all tragic deaths. What can we learn from them? Always be alert, be cautious at busy intersections and blind curves, don’t swerve suddenly if you can help it, and above all, always wear your seat belts and make sure your child passengers are properly restrained.

Corzine crash revisited

More has now been revealed in New Jersey about last week's vehicle crash involving Governor Corzine. The onboard event data recorder ("black box") determined his SUV was traveling 91 mph just before the crash.

The other drivers were just trying to get out of the way when the collision occurred between Corzine's SUV and a pickup truck, with the Suburban then going to the left and hitting a guardrail at 30 mph, again according to the EDR. Corzine wasn't belted and was severely injured. He's lucky to be alive. The state trooper driving the SUV was belted and sustained only minor injuries.

And what was the "emergency" that caused the furious pace (26 mph over the speed limit)? They were rushing to the governor's mansion for a meeting between Don Imus and the Rutger's women's basketball team!

Governor Corzine caught not using seat belt

While I sincerely hope that Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey fully recovers from the injuries suffered yesterday evening as a result of a vehicle crash on the Garden State Parkway, I can't believe he wasn't wearing a seat belt while riding in the right front seat of his state-trooper driven Chevy Suburban:

Eyewitness News -- Channel 7, New York

(New York - WABC, April 13, 2007) - Officials say New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was apparently not wearing a seat belt when his SUV crashed on the Garden State Parkway Thursday night.

I mean, he's not a gun-totin' ''live free or die" right-wing rugged individualist as far as I know. Does he expect his state police escort to magically part traffic like the Red Sea so his car will never hit another one? If anything, he certainly sets a poor example when seat belt use has been mandatory in his state since 1985 (and is now the law in all other states except New Hampshire). I can only hope he learns something from this incident.