Seat belts save lives: AA

Young people are being urged to ‘belt up in the back’ following new data that highlights the ‘staggering’ numbers killed in car crashes not wearing their seatbelts. New analysis by The AA Charitable Trust shows almost half (43%) of young passengers (17-29 years) who are killed in car crashes are not wearing a seat belt.  

   Belting up reduces the risk of death by around 50%, meaning up to around one quarter of all young car passenger deaths could be avoided if all young passengers put their belts on. When the data is analysed across all ages, unbelted fatalities fall to 27% of car passengers, highlighting the disproportionate number of young passengers being killed when not wearing their seatbelt.  

   Young, male car passengers are more likely to die unbelted in a car crash than their female peers. The research, based on five years of car crash data where seatbelt wearing status was known, shows 68% of young passengers who die unbelted are male. These crashes are also more likely to happen at night, with 74% of young, unbelted, passenger fatalities happening in the night or evening.