Published: May 27, 2009 04:44 pm      

Not buckled up — 05/28/09

Kentucky has among nation’s lowest rates of seat belt use

There is another bad habit too many Kentuckians have that is causing too many of us to die prematurely. However, unlike being too heavy, smoking too much and not getting enough exercise, it takes just a few seconds to end this bad habit.

In fact, it is really not even a habit. Instead, it involves what too many Kentuckians fail to do: Buckle up.

Seat belt use among Kentuckians is at 73 percent. While that’s about double the percentage of Kentuckians who buckled up before the state enacted its first mandatory seat belt law in the 1980s and slightly more than those who buckled up before the state made failure to buckle up a primary traffic offense, the bottom line is this: Kentucky continues to rank near the bottom among the 50 states in seat belt use.

Kentucky had 826 traffic fatalities in 2008. Of those who died on the state’s highways, 55 percent were not buckled up. If the state were to increase its seat belt use to the national average of 89.3 percent, Kentucky would have had 51 fewer traffic fatalities and 589 fewer serious injuries, according to projections by the state Department of Highways.

Of course, such figures are just estimates. It is impossible to accurately project how many lives would have been saved if more Kentuckians were wearing their seat belts. And wearing a seat belt does not always guarantee you will survive a serious accident. After all, 45 percent of those who died on Kentucky highways in 2008 were buckled up.

But statistics clearly show that seat belts save lives. In fact, it is one of the easiest things to do to protect us when driving or riding in a vehicle. Why so many choose not to do so is beyond us.