The concept of the seat belt was developed by George Cayley back in the 19th century. Its goal was to secure an individual to an object in motion. Today, seatbelts protect drivers and other vehicle occupants from any form of injury during a collision. Firemen and painters were among the first users of safety belts. They used the restraints for protection in their line of work.

In the 1950s, Hunter Shelden developed a new seat belt after he researched the injuries and fatalities that came about with the other restraint systems at the time. His was a retractable version that was well thought out and more practical.

Buckling in has become mostly a requirement nowadays, but people didn’t always regard it highly. Before seat belt laws were put in place, a lot of debating happened. It was in the 1950s that Congress began passing laws concerning safety features in cars. The 1984 New York State Law marked the first time individuals in the front seat were required by law to wear a safety belt while they operate a vehicle. Today, every state in the USA has some type of law that makes it illegal to not be wearing a seatbelt. The penalties vary from one state to another.

Some states in the US have primary seatbelt laws while others have secondary seat belt laws. Primary belt laws here mean that a police officer can pull over a driver for NOT wearing a seatbelt. Secondary seat belt laws allow a law enforcement officer to issue a ticket if the driver and/or passenger is not wearing a safety belt, BUT only if he discovers this after pulling them over for another offence such as speeding.

In the UK it took many years of campaigning for seat belt laws to come into legislation. The battle for the belts began in the 1970s. It took more than ten years for seatbelt laws to come into force. It became compulsory for children to wear safety belts a little while later. It became mandatory for occupants in the back to wear a safety belt in the early 1990s.

Why are safety belt laws important?
Studies show that vehicle accidents are the primary cause of death for persons under the age of 5 and those as old as 45. The number of people who suffer injuries is even higher. A research conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the US revealed that safety belts lower the risk of death in a car accident by 50%

Seat where to buy maxalt online belt laws together with safer defensive driving tips such as encouraging drivers to wear a safety belt have the ability to protect passengers and drivers.

A safety belt keeps a person in place and prevents sudden ejection from the car. The belt is also secure enough to prevent impact on the body during a sudden stop or crash. They don’t limit mobility. They ensure that your body is protected and keeps you in position instead of sending you flying through your windshield. Your body’s most crucial areas are restrained and the crash impact is spread over a wide area like the torso and shoulders. It’s possible to slow down the body and protect the spinal cord and brain while wearing a safety belt.

Seat belt laws governing kids state the following:

-From the time a child is born, he or she is required to be in a rear-facing seat. When he reaches the age of one, the child can move to a front-facing seat.

-After the age of four, the child can move to a booster seat until the age of 8 and height of 5”. Children need to be seated in a way that maximizes the effectiveness of a safety belt. They should also be a certain height in order to utilize the belt appropriately. A normal safety belt in the front seat wouldn’t protect a four year old child as much because the restraints don’t even reach the child’s most crucial areas- shoulders and torso.

-Children should remain in the back seat until the age of 13.

Of course, it is up to the parent or caregiver of a child to ensure that these laws are being obeyed. No driver should consider it a burden to make any purchase for tools or practices that may end up saving a child’s life. According to studies, children under the age of 5 are most likely to die in a car accident than from any other cause.

To ensure seat belt laws are practiced and followed States can implement the following strategies:

-Focus on enforcing primary seat belt laws, which increase the use of safety belts and reduce deaths as compared to secondary enforcement laws.

-Make sure the safety belt laws apply to all the occupants of the vehicle and not only those in the front seats.

-Introduce high fines for non-seatbelt use. High fines will force people to wear belts in order to escape paying them.

-Ensure that law enforcement bodies such as state troopers, police officers, etc. enforce all the seat belt laws.

-Support seat belt legislation with campaigns that involve the police as well as public. The objective is to educate members of the public about the importance of wearing a safety belt and the consequences of not wearing one.

-Make the public understand that wearing a belt in a moving vehicle is more of a need than a forced requirement. The State should try as much as possible to make it a social norm.

If the State is constantly doing its part to educate, inform and enforce these laws on the public, then seat belt safety may be a possibility. However, you should always remember that safety on the road starts with you.

There is no doubt that seatbelts and seatbelt laws save lives. If all these seat belt laws weren’t in place, only a few drivers and passengers would belt in because they truly wanted to protect their lives. Safety belt laws are a crucial part of motivating drivers and passengers to wear seat belts before hitting the road. These laws may be harsh in some places, but at the end of the day they are put in place to protect you and your loved ones.