B.C. drivers still aren’t wearing seat belts: police

Many car drivers and passengers in B.C. still aren’t wearing seat belts, according to police-reported collision statistics.
Among victims killed in passenger cars in 2003, B.C. police statistics show that approximately 41% were not wearing a seat belt or using a child restraint. The numbers are worse for motorists in light trucks, where approximately 57% of the victims killed were unrestrained.
According to Transport Canada seat belt surveys, approximately 17% of British Columbians were not buckling up in 2002-03. ICBC predicts that during October 2005, there will be 22,000 vehicle crashes across the province and some 6,500 British Columbians will be injured.
“It’s completely mind-boggling to us that some people actually choose not to take advantage of the tremendous protection seat belts provide,” police inspector Norm Gaumont of the RCMP Traffic Services says. “Clearly, they’ve never seen someone who’s been hurled through a windshield.”
The fine in B.C. for not wearing a seat belt is $138, and the fine for not restraining a child properly is $109.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, police throughout the province will be focusing on seat belt and child restraint use, in an attempt to save lives. At the same time, the B.C. government and ICBC will promote the use of seat belts during their Zero Crash Month campaign.
In their Community Crash Reduction Challenge, the government and ICBC are hoping peer pressure will be a valuable tool to get communities and individuals to take extra care on the road. “Seat belts are, beyond a doubt, the single most effective way to reduce crash- related injuries and death,” said Laurie Baker, ICBC manager of road safety. “Our hope is that maybe the message will get through if friends and loved ones reinforce it.”
The ICBC says seat belts reduce the risk of death to front seat occupants by 45% and cut the risk of moderate-to-severe injury by 50%. For light truck occupants, seat belts reduce the risk of death by 60% and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 65%.
Males under age 25 have the lowest seat-belt-wearing rates.