Persuasive Essay On Seat Belts

Distracted driving poses an immense problem across the United States, and the issue only seems to continue growing. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed” in cases involving distracted driving, and of those killed, “teens were the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes” (“Distracted Driving”, n.d.). These terrifying statistics cannot be ignored. Distracted driving is a national epidemic, and unless society addresses the problem properly and efficiently, the risky driving behavior will continue to plague our streets, endangering peoples’ lives and leading to more fatalities.

The short answer is that small school buses do in fact require seat belts; large school buses, with a few exceptions do not. Seat belts are not required on the larger school buses because both the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada, have determined that compartmentalization is the preferred occupant protection system.

Wearing seatbelts reduces the chances of injury by 50%. Imagine you running as fast as you can into a wall, you’d expect to be pretty messed up after right? Wear a seatbelt to avoid human collision. Not wearing a seatbelt is the leading cause of car accidents for people under the age of 35. You may be a careful driver, but you can’t control the actions of other drivers. So, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Imagine enjoying a movie at the cinemas, eating food at McDonalds, or even sitting in class with a group of friends at your local high school, while some individuals around you are carrying loaded firearms. Although this seems unbelievable, the United States Constitutions give people the right to acquire and carry firearms. It is ridiculous that they allow their citizens to carry handguns, such as pistols. This should be strictly limited, due to that they are made exclusively for protection or the police. Due to this law, the murder rate in the United States have increased and this allows children to handle guns and possible kill other family members or other children. Gut-wrenching events like this can happen in a blink of an eye.

Having seat belts on buses does not mean that children will wear them and studies show that if a crash were to occur and some children were in seat belts and some were not things could go very bad. Mary M. Alward states in her article by Local School Directory.com that, “On impact, the children who are not wearing seat belts are slammed into the students who are strapped in. These children not only absorb their own body weight, but also that of the children who slam into them. This doubles the crash impact of the belted students and serious injury may occur” (Alward). This alone should be a good

Personally, growing up around new technological advances such as the rise of social media has impacted my own life because I have seen friends of mine become distracted while driving firsthand, for this reason, I believe as a nation we should take action to minimize accidents caused by this epidemic. Some ways we can begin this effort is by teaching the negative consequences of distracted driving by accordingly enforcing laws, instituting fines, as well as making its awareness a mandatory topic in drivers ed classes and in driving tests throughout the country. Although as a society before driving we should encourage silencing our cell phones, using driving apps to avoid distractions, or setting up priority settings beforehand for emergency calls or notifications. By using a combination of assets such as law enforcement, government mandates, societal influence, phone settings, and spreading awareness we can better educate the public and end distracted driving.

     States across the nation have seat belt laws in place that make it a requirement for drivers and passengers in vehicles that are being operated on public streets to wear some sort of safety belt. In 1998, 41,471 people were killed in 6,334,000 reported motor vehicle accidents in the United States. Seat belts are estimated to save 9,500 lives each year, and statistics show a higher degree of seat-belt use in states that aggressively enforce seat belt laws. The laws, as well as the punishments available for violation of the laws vary by state. In most states, however, it is considered a misdemeanor and punishable by a small fine. The properness of an arrest for such violations is a good question and has been

The law should require people to wear seat belts because it prevents people from getting injured or killed in car accidents. Seat belts dramatically reduce the risk of death and serious injuries every day. 53% of the people who have died in car accidents were not wearing a seat belt. Many people that

We have all heard the excuses before, "It's uncomfortable, I'm only going around the corner", I'd rather be thrown out of a car than be stuck in a seatbelt," and my favorite, "I'm a good driver I don't need to wear one." Well you may be a good driver but there are situations beyond your control such as bad weather, road conditions and not to mention other drivers that can affect your safety. Seat belts can mean the difference between life and death in an auto accident. Wearing a seat belt every time you enter a vehicle is not only the smart thing to do it is the right thing because it saves lives, it's the law and it will save you money.

An enormous division currently exists between the people who believe that automobile safety should be an option and those that feel it must be a requirement. The federal government feels the morally obligated to create the safest driving environment possible. On the other end of the spectrum, opinions exist that the average driver has ability to make the choice of safety on their own. Editorials, political assemblies, debates, and conversations have arrived on the concept of click it or ticket. This idea refers to ticketing any motor vehicle driver and passenger that is not fastened by a seat belt. Arguments have been made for both sides, and have been reviewed in multiple states.

Some commercial or owner operator truck drivers find seat belts either uncomfortable or inconvenient. It's easy to get into the habit of not using them because truck accidents may seem an unlikely occurrence to the driver who has never been in one.

Did you know that every hour, someone dies in a car crash for not wearing his or her seat belt? When you are driving or even riding in a vehicle, buckling your seat belt will decrease your chance of death or serious injury, if you are involved in a severe accident. Seat belts are there regarding to your safety and protection for the prevention of your life being in danger. In 2015, seat belt use in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 13,941 lives, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Seat Belts np). Recognizing the importance, consequences, and how an individual can deal with the problem are the key aspects to this solution.

It is a well documented fact that legislation lags behind automotive technology more often than not. There are many vehicular safety improvements floating around only in the imaginations of engineers. However, because legislators live many years in the past, they have not been able to be implemented. Those on the side of Libertarian values would argue, that it is no place of the (already too large) government to enforce laws that affect only the driver… to them I invite to read something else.

However, New Hampshire, a state without any seatbelt laws, only have a 8.6 deaths per 100,000 people (IIHSHLDI 2015). Compared to other states, they rank at #11 for the lowest amount of deaths resulted from car crashes. While compared to our state, North Carolina has a total of 13.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2015). Even though the state charges a total $161 fine for not using seatbelts (NC Public Safety). This shows that even though we have the belief and evidence that supports the use of seat belts is safer. Although the evidence is contrary to what we believe, there must be a way to implement the safety component of seatbelts without the

A seat belt is a long strap attached to a car seat, this tool was designed to keep the passenger in place when in a collision. According to, Traffic with a smile, “ Today, the seat belt serves to protect drivers and passengers from injury during any type of collision.” Tnsafety.org says, “More than 50% of vehicle occupants killed in crashes in Tennessee were not wearing seat belts.” There are many people that die everyday, because they had a collision and were not wearing a seatbelt.