Did you know that your odds of dying in a motor vehicle crash are 45 percent lower if you’re wearing a seatbelt at the time of impact than if you’re not buckled in?

Buckling up is the single most effective thing a person can do to protect himself in a motor vehicle accident, saving more than 13,000 lives every year. Yet still millions of people don’t always wear their seatbelts.

Consider these other statistics:

• Only one percent of passengers wearing seatbelts are ejected from car seats during automobile crashes. (Source: Naval Safety Center)
• Three out of four families who place their children in child safety seats do not use these seats properly. (Source: James Madison University)
• Males in the 16 to 25 age group are the least likely to wear seatbelts. (Source: Car-Accidents.com)
• For survivors of motor vehicle accidents, medical costs average 50 percent higher for drivers and passengers who were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision. (Source: Car-Accidents.com)

How to Encourage Seatbelt Use

Research by NHTSA found that the majority of people only wear seatbelts when they think it’s necessary, suppressing thoughts of the consequences of being in a motor vehicle accident.

To break through these “unconscious defense mechanisms” of denial, repression, rationalization and fatalism, the NHTSA suggested some ways to promote seatbelt use, such as:

• Overcome the false sense of control that drivers have by focusing on the potentially dangerous driving habits of the other drivers on the road; and
• Don’t use the words “wear your seatbelt” in your campaign, but rather allow people to draw the conclusion that buckling up is a good idea.

The National Safety Council also has some suggestions on how to encourage seatbelt use, including reminding drivers that:

• By buckling up you’re modeling the behavior you expect of your children; and
• Other people care about you and want you to be safe.

If you’re having a hard time getting through to workers – or family members – on the importance of buckling up, this video from Sussex Safer Roads website may help. The video’s gone viral, popular with people all over the world. But even if you’ve seen it before, it’s worth seeing again.

If you’re interested in using this video in your training programs, contact the film’s producer, Sarah Alexander, for sales and licensing information.

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