Is the Seat Belt Law for Money or Safety?

Answer 1

in 1999 63% of people killed in car accidents were not wearing seatbelts.....safety yes......on average, inpatient hospital care costs for an unbelted crash victim are 50 percent higher than those for a belted crash victim. Society bears 85 percent of those costs, not the individuals involved. Every American pays about $580 a year toward the cost of crashes. If everyone buckled up, this figure would drop significantly.

so the answer is both!

Answer 2

It is money. I bet if you looked hard enough, you would find that each state receives money from the federal govt for highway/road maintenance. The amount they get is tied into how safe their roadways are. More people wearing seat belts/helmets = safer roads = more money for the state. To think that they would pass a law like this because they care about individuals safety is ludicrous. Remember, we are talking about the govt.

The real question is: Why do we need seat belt and helmet laws for safety in the first place? If you are not intelligent enough to wear a seat belt in a car or a helmet on a motorcycle and then you are seriously injured (or killed), wouldn't that be a perfect example of "survival of the fittest"?

Answer 3

Both. Seat belts do reduce the chance of injury in a car crash.

However, I'm sure lobbyists for insurance companies also play a big part in getting mandatory seat belt laws passed, since insurance companies have to pay for injuries sustained in car crashes.

I doubt there's quite as big a push for mandatory helmet laws - at least by insurance companies. Motorcycle helmets increase the chance of a person surviving a crash, but the rest of the person's body is going to suffer some pretty serious damage. The cost of medical treatment could easily surpass the cost of death benefits.

Answer 4

The seat belt law is for safety. Don't even go into the money stuff. The cost of keeping a person alive after rehab goes down substantially when seatbelts prevent the cause of really nasty injury.

Answer 5

Seat Belt Law is for safety purposes first and money second. Seat belts save lives. Wearing your seatbelt gives you a 85% better chance of surviving a crash without injury. People who do not wear their seatbelt get to pay a 50 dollar fine and court cost of 95 bucks (average). Making people safe in their vehicles helps push down the cost of insurance meaning we all save money in the end. Police departments are given grants to pay officers overtime to just go out and look for people not wearing their seatbelts. It's a big money maker and a big life saver.

Answer 6

Seat Belt Law = Safety
Speed Traps= Money
Driver Responsibility Program (TX)=Money (A load of *ucking crock)

Answer 7

It's for safety. It's been shown by statistics and science that seatbelts are an effect protection against injuries in accidents. They can prevent people from crashing through the windshield or flying around and breaking bones. They aren't perfect, though. The reason there are fines for not wearing seatbelts is because if there was no punishment for not wearing seatbelts, people wouldn't wear seatbelts as much. Think about it. Is the speeding law for money or for safety? It's almost the same thing.

Answer 8

I'm sure the passed it for safety reasons but lets face it its making them money too. Personally I think that the law is unconstitutional, what gives the government the right to insure my safety? What's really funny is that here in Oklahoma there isn't a helmet law for motorcycles, go figure.

Answer 9

Depends on your point of view.

I believe it to be a little of both. If the state could not make money from the law, it would not have been passed and would not be enforced.

But, those who promote the law do so due to their concerns for safety.

Answer 10

I would say probably a little of both, but I don't think that it should be a law you have to wear it. It should be your choice, if you don't put it on and get ejected from your car it's your fault. Personally, I know 2 people that have died as a result of wearing a seatbelt. I am not saying that seat belts don't save lives, but it's something we shouldn't be forced to do.