Around 3:15 a.m. on New Year's Day, two men died in a crash east of Ottawa.
A pickup truck collided head-on with a tractor-trailer on Highway 17. Neither man was wearing his seatbelt and both were pronounced dead at the scene. These are the first highway deaths in Eastern Ontario in 2013, following a high death toll in 2012.
According to the Ontario Provincial Police, road crashes in Eastern Ontario killed 73 people last year, compared with 55 in 2011. In 16 of last year’s deaths, the victims either failed to wear their seatbelts, or failed to wear them properly. In eight of those deaths people were thrown from their vehicles.
It is difficult to say how many of these deaths could have been prevented if people wore their seatbelts, but it is fair to assume it would decrease the number of victims.
So why, then, do some still choose not to buckle up?
Algonquin College student Justin, not his real name, says he almost never wears his seatbelt. And it often doesn't occur to him to do so.
“When I’m with friends, I rarely wear my seatbelt because we’re always on the go and it just doesn’t faze me when I get into the vehicle,” he says, noting he only wears his seatbelt if he thinks the person he is with is a bad driver or he is riding with his parents.
“I almost always wear a seatbelt when I’m with my parents because they brought me up with it, and I would get in trouble if I didn’t.”
Justin says he would be more likely to wear his seatbelt if he was ticketed for not wearing one.
“Coming up to RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) programs or talking to a cop, I put my seatbelt on. But if I’m just driving past a cop, I just hide the seatbelt with my shoulder and they have never noticed.”
The cost of a seatbelt infraction is $240 and two demerit points, but Justin says larger fines would not convince him to wear his seatbelt.
“The fine is pretty big already and would scare most people, even me if I got it, but you need those police officers there to give those fines and catch you,” he says. “More police checking for seatbelts would make me wear it more often and get back into the habit of wearing one.”
Mike Prud’homme, manager of traffic safety and training for Canada Safety Council, says he is not sure what else can be done to persuade people to wear their seatbelts. Canada Safety Council is an NGO that does public awareness campaigns and publications focusing on a variety of safety issues.
“We can’t have a police officer in every car telling people to put their seatbelts on,” he says.
Prud’homme says it is important for people to understand the seriousness of driving a vehicle.
“When driving, you’re in charge of something that can potentially be very dangerous,” he says. “Dangerous to you, other people in cars, pedestrians, even wildlife.”
While it is impossible to have police everywhere checking to see that people are wearing their seatbelts, something needs to be done to decrease avoidable deaths on Ontario highways. A combination of awareness campaigns and more frequent checks could persuade people to buckle up before driving.
It is common knowledge that seatbelts are mandatory, but people may not be aware of the consequences. Transport Canada reports that 93 per cent of Canadians wear their seatbelts and that seatbelts save 1,000 lives per year. However, the seven per cent of Canadians who do not wear their seatbelts account for 40 per cent of fatalities in vehicle collisions.
Understanding these numbers is crucial and helps to demonstrate the incentive of wearing a seatbelt. Furthermore, Transport Canada reports that airbags are proven and effective safety devices, but they do not replace seatbelts. Front airbags will not prevent ejection from a vehicle.
An aggressive campaign highlighting these facts could make people rethink seatbelt safety and consider the severe consequences of not wearing one. An understanding that there are circumstances outside of drivers’ control while driving is necessary for safer roads. Someone may stop suddenly, be driving under the influence, or a deer could step onto the road – in any of these circumstances, it is possible that a driver may not have the chance to stop, let alone puton his or her seatbelt.
Prud’homme says that his best piece of advice for drivers is to be aware of what is around them. “Be cautious and pay attention. Don’t start daydreaming. People get familiar taking the same routes, so always be aware and look around.”
Prud’homme also urges that people obey road laws, emphasizing that seatbelts save lives.
“We keep educating and reiterating, people are aware of why they should wear seatbelts. They are for the protection of drivers and passengers.”
People who don’t wear their seatbelts don’t understand that while they may be excellent drivers, there is no guarantee that the people around them are.
People can only control their own driving, so taking the necessary steps, such as wearing a seatbelt, to ensure safety in case of emergency could greatly reduce the death toll on Eastern Ontario highways.
A safety campaign and more frequent seatbelt checks by police would help make wearing a seatbelt a habit for everyone.