Carolyn explains, the most efficient solution to this problem is by facing drivers with a more probable fate than a car accident. In states with a secondary seatbelt law, barely 50% of drivers and passengers can care enough to buckle their belts. As the law moves from secondary to standard, seatbelt rates shoot up more than 15%. One case, in Louisiana, the amount of clicks skyrocketed from 50-68%, simply because the state issued the standard belt law. In fact, if every state adopted
this regulation, about 1,900 lives would be saved each year.
The true victims of an accident aren’t the people in the car, for these are the ones at fault. The real victims are the taxpayers. Society pays 85% of the medical costs, to give the brainless man without a seatbelt another breath of fresh air. One may ask, “Is this a drain on the economy? No, but it is a pebble on the path. One of which should be kicked aside.
Hanig sets an example all should follow. She had always made sure her children and herself were buckled in before driving the car. Every parent should rub into their child’s brain the importance of a seatbelt, and never go anywhere sooner than it is strapped on.
Changing laws and motivational speeches are all in a days work for Carolyn Hanig. She sees that this seatbelt problem will only get worse until outstanding changes are made. There are factors on the road, such as drunk and aggressive driving, which cannot be controlled by the driver; and by ignoring your seatbelt, a movement simpler than even shutting a door, you just might shut the door to the rest of your life.
