Of the 32,598 passengers killed in 2002 as the result of an automobile crash, almost 60% were not wearing seatbelts. (Naval Safety Center)
Only 1% of passengers who were restrained were ejected from car seats during a car crash. Of those ejected (restrained and unrestrained), 73% were killed. (Naval Safety Center)
Use of safety belts at the time of a crash makes a significant difference in hospitalization outcomes. One person in six (17%) who was wearing a safety belt at the time of the crash was hospitalized compared to one person in three (32%) who was not wearing a safety belt at the time of the crash. (NHTSA, 2005)
Ejection from a vehicle is one of the most injurious events that can happen to a person in a crash. In fatal crashes in 2004, 74 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants who were totally ejected from the vehicle where killed. Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejections; only one percent of the occupants who used restraints were totally ejected, compared with 29 percent of unrestrained occupants. (NHTSA, 2005)
