Image: flanews
The mandatory use of seat-belts in vehicles is intended to save lies of passengers in times of vehicular accidents. It has been proven and yet a good number choose to ignore it or forget it. What is behind this seeming aversion to the law?
The Seatbelt Law mandates the installation of seatbelts on motor vehicles and the wearing of such seatbelts by occupants. The earliest recorded seatbelt legislation was in 1961 at the US State of Wisconsin. In spite of the intended benefits of the law, some countries had to delay its adoption due to serious disapproval from certain groups.
The enactment of the Seatbelt Law is credited for the decline in the number of casualties related to road accidents in many countries. Experiments are continuously being conducted to determine how seatbelts can more effectively reduce death rate and injury arising from car crashes. For this purpose, crash test dummies are often used although tests using actual human cadavers have also been done. This is being done to have a more accurate results for human application.
Many countries have made the use of seatbelts compulsory with a corresponding penalty for failure to comply. Most seatbelt laws emphasize the use of seatbelts for front row occupants and have varying provisions in relation to the use of seatbelts of second row occupants. There may also be provisions with regards to the use of appropriate child seats in addition to the standard seatbelt.
It is worth noting that there are still standing oppositions to the law mainly on two grounds. Those who are against the seatbelt law see its use as an infringement to personal liberty as well as a belief that seatbelts actually increase the risks for road users. There are reported cases where seatbelt wearers were supposed to have suffered injuries caused by the body restraint. There are serious efforts to make vehicles safer in this regard.