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From: minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin Minow)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.auto
Subject: Re: Massachusetts seat belt law
Message-ID: <147@decvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 23-Dec-85 11:38:43 EST
Article-I.D.: decvax.147
Posted: Mon Dec 23 11:38:43 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 24-Dec-85 20:48:24 EST
References: <294@frog.UUCP> <751@mit-eddie.UUCP> <8110@ucla-cs.ARPA> <146@decvax.UUCP> <518@sdchema.sdchema.UUCP>
Reply-To: minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin minow)
Organization: DEC - ULTRIX Engineering Group
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Xref: lsuc net.politics:2611 net.auto:1143

Continuing my comments on the Swedish seatbelt law study:

>>Two studies were done in Sweden in the early/mid 1970's.  One
>>carefully estimated the total cost to society of "cleaning up"
>>after a traffic fatality (exclusive of insurance payments, ....
>>In round numbers, cleaning up the mess costs about $50,000 per accident.

>	Was this for fatalities only involving non-usage of seat-belts or
>	was it for all fatal accidents?

All fatal accidents.

>What I would like to know is how many of those 131 fatalities were
>caused BECAUSE the people did not buckle up. The statistics are
>valid only if use of seat-belts would have helped in any way.

I don't remember reading an answer to this question.  The odds still
look like 60:1 against you if you don't buckle up.  (Naive estimate,
no math complaints, please.)  Anecdotal evidence that someone "would
have been killed if he wasn't thrown clear" are just that: the is
no way to check this.

>I presume that studies examining "every fatal accident" (with Volvos or
>otherwise) would prob'ly include accidents of the latter type also, where
>fatalities were not a direct consequence of not using seat-belts. Is that
>correct?

>				Sameer Nadkarni
>				sdcsvax!sdchema!svn

I've been in two accidents wearing seat belts, one in a micro-car
(Fiat 850) that I drove off the road to avoid a more serious collision.
No injuries in either.  Being restrained by the seat belt enabled me to
maintain control of the car, steering it off the road (and avoiding a tree).
Without the seat belt, I believe I would have been tossed around by the first
bump and consequently have lost total control of the situation.

Martin Minow
decvax!minow