RV traffic safety is a very serious matter, which cannot be taken as a joke. When we receive recommendations of conduct for both the driver and the passengers, we should give the deserved importance.
In this case, the seat belt is a component that everyone should use. However, unfortunately, we know things are not like that.
In the post below, I emphasize the importance of using the traffic belt, in addition to remembering that, in 2017, there were 20 years of mandatory use of seatbelts by both the driver and the passengers.
The importance of the RV seat belt
When it comes to safety at the time of driving, you cannot afford to risk your own life. In this sense, the use of the seat belt is indispensable, whatever the occasion.
Both on the main thoroughfares of the city and within a condominium in the interior of the State, it is mandatory to use a seat belt.
Seat belts are the main safety device to prevent serious injury and even death in the event of accidents. For the protection of both the driver and other occupants of the vehicle, it is important to wear a seat belt in any circumstance where the car is in motion.
Discreet and simple, the belt is a protective device to life. For the RV driver, it prevents the body from clashing with the steering wheel in the event of a mishap.
It is very common to see passengers in the back seat without the seat belt, unfortunately. This practice is dangerous, and should certainly be avoided — especially with children.
Therefore, do not reject the seat belt. Anyone who values safe and non-fatal traffic certainly uses this device.
What you should know about Recreational vehicle seat belt
On the wave of our “wear your seat belts!” Mini-campaign, we will present some interesting facts and figures about the use of this device during transit on urban roads.
With the belt put in place, the chances of getting hurt during an accident are four times lower than without it.
This is not only for the occupants of the front seats but also for anyone who is in the back seats of the car. Less than 5% of people in the rear seats wear seat belts.
Pay attention: being in the back of the vehicle does not free the person from suffering damage occurrences.
There is no way, the belt must be used in any situation of movement! Not requiring them to occupy the vehicle, especially children, is huge irresponsibility that can result in accidents and situations that no one wants to get through.
Obligatory full seat belt for 20 years
Coincidentally, in 2017 has completed 20 years of mandatory seat belts for any occupant of a motor vehicle.
The measure aimed to make the transit safer for passengers and, of course, for the driver. However, even today, just walking for an hour on some great avenues we see people without the device.
Statistics on seat belts
- Available statistics show seat belts actually save peoples’ lives if used in the right way. Putting on a seat belt will minimize the risk of fatal injuries to the person sitting in the front seat.
This is at 45 percent, whereas the risk of less critical to very critical injuries is reduced by 50 percent. For those that are riding in the van’s rear & SUV, in an event of a car collision the belts of the rear seat are usually 73% even better at minimizing fatalities.
- Center for Disease Control & Prevention gave a report stating since 1975-to 2008, the figures have actually shown that the use of seat belts in the U.S. only has saved at least 255,000 lives! Even though the primary seat belt law hasn’t existed in every state of the United States.
- Based on a report by Naval Safety Center, 1% of road users who were putting on a seat belt were safely ejected from the vehicle during a crash.
Use of Seat belt rates in the U.S. has been increasing since 1983. This was from 14%-90% in 2016.
Wearing a seat belt only brings benefits!
Anyway, it is clear why the seat belt is useful, right? Caring for the safety of the occupants of the recreational vehicle is necessary.
No matter what the stress of everyday life is, we need to cherish our lives. In this sense, reducing the risks of major damage resulting from auto accidents is one of the first steps towards a re-education of traffic.
It is important to remember that, today, the non-use of the belt grants the owner of the vehicle points on the CNH and, consequently, fines.
In addition to avoiding the payment of a certain amount to pay the infraction, the driver will drive in a much more comfortable and concentrated safe environment.
On June 30, 2009, the Florida seat belt laws became more difficult. That day, Florida became a primary execution state. This allows law enforcement officers to stop motorists for the sole reason of issuing a seat belt citation.
Aspects of the Florida lien that governs children, however, are among some of the weakest in the country in March 2010.
Seat belt laws in the United States
There are two types of seat belt laws in the U.S., primary and secondary. As of 2010, there are no federal seat belt laws and state governments decide on the laws.
In 1998, Congress passed the Equal Transportation Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which contained grant money for states to initiate new seat belt laws, child passenger protection, and transit enforcement programs.
All states except New Hampshire have a seat belt law requiring adults to wear seat belts. In addition, all 50 states have seat belt laws for children who need to be in a safety restraint or belt.
Primary Belt Laws
Primary seat belt law allows police officers to stop the vehicle and issue a quote when the officer sees a belt-less operator or passenger. Thirty states have this primary seat belt right.
New Hampshire is the only state that does not have a primary or secondary seat belt law for adults, although they have a primary containment law that covers children under the age of 18.
Secondary Law Seat Belt
The secondary law lays down seat belts that the citation for not wearing seat belts can only be issued after the officer stops the offender for another violation.
In cases where a driver is obeying the law, the driver will not be pulled for not wearing a seat belt. Nineteen states issued and now follow the secondary law.
Specific laws to determine primary and secondary decree vary from state to state, depending on the age of the passenger and where he is sitting in the vehicle.
Seat belts on school buses
Small school buses are treated as passenger vehicles because they are smaller and more likely to expel passengers in accidents, for these reasons, seat belts are placed in small school buses. However, large school buses in many states do not have seat belts.
New York was the first to pass a law requiring the larger buses to get the seat belts five years later, New Jersey passed a similar law requiring children to be the seat belt.
In 1999, California, Florida, and Louisiana also passed a law for what has been called “the improvement of occupant restraint systems” to place seat belts on large school buses.
Laws pertaining to recreational vehicles seat Belt
Under Florida law, all occupants of the front seats of a motor vehicle must wear a seat belt. Persons under 18 must be secured with a seat belt or child restraint system, regardless of their position. Cars, trucks, and vans are subject to the law, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Child restraint rights
Child Restraint Law of Florida says that young people under 18 should have safety belts in the front or rear seat of a motor vehicle.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gives low ratings (a rating of “marginal”, which is only one step above “poor”) to how the law covers young children.
Children up to the age of 3 must be insured with a child restraint system. He notes that Florida law 4- and 5-year-old can use a restraint system or seat belt. The PSF says it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that minors adhere to the law.
Application
Making a safety belt legislation a primary violation, Florida secured $ 35.5 million in federal highway funding, the Miami Herald reported. In the secondary application, you could receive a seat belt violation only after being interrupted by any other bad traffic pass.
The penalty for violating the seat belt law is a minimum of $30, plus a court fee of $ 6. Offenses related to child retention carry a minimum fine of $60, plus a court fee of $10.
Exceptions
Florida law, explains that school buses, public and private transportation buses, agricultural vehicles, trucks with a gross weight of more than 26,000 pounds, and motorcycles, mopeds, and bicycles are exempt from the safety belt law.
There are similar exceptions to the child retention law. If you are considered by a doctor to have a medical condition that prohibits the safe use of a seat belt, you are exempt.
Remember that newspaper delivery vendors, garbage collection workers, persons in the recreational vehicle, and persons occupying all sorts of vehicles are required by federal law to have their seat belts properly fastened.
Education
Both Florida seat belts and child restraint indicate that the legislator’s intent is that “all state, county, and local law enforcement agencies, safety councils, and public school systems” conduct awareness campaigns and education to promote the safety belt.
FHP operates four “seat belt convincers” in the state of Florida. Convincers simulate the experience of a traffic accident at 80 mph. The passengers are tied to a car and moved down a ramp to a sudden stop. FHP observes that bad things happen at lower speeds too.
The force of a 30 mph crash can increase the perceived weight of a 15-pound baby to 450 pounds. If the child is not insured, it cannot be avoided that he is expelled from a vehicle.
A measure of putting the seat belt in the passenger’s back seat is often neglected by people since it saves lives and avoids serious injuries. In the event of a collision, the occupant who does not use the safety device is projected forward with a weight 15 times greater.
For example, if a 60-kilometer-per-hour vehicle carrying a 60-kilo passenger without a belt bounces against a concrete wall, all of its occupants will be thrown in the same direction and speed.
Whoever is behind without the device will have the projected body weighing 15 times larger. In this scenario, almost a ton, it would reach anyone in the front of the car.
The rear seat passenger will also be thrown upwards, banging his head on the roof of the vehicle, which can lead to a cervical fracture followed by a spinal cord injury.
In addition, when thrown forward, there is the possibility of crossing the windshield. Before that, however, he will have hit the occupant of the front seat. Therefore, whoever does not wear the rear belt, runs and is life-threatening.
Why you need to provide safety for your kids
Children need safety devices such as baby comfort, a highchair, or a lift seat for their safety according to law.
- Babies up to 1 year old should be transported in the back seat of the car in baby comfort, from the back.
- Children between the ages of 1 and 4 years should stay in the car seat with the seat belt and the back seat.
- For children between the ages of 4 and 7 and a half, a back seat should be used.
- Children aged 7 years and a half and 10 years should use the seat belt in the back seat.
Conclusion
Using your seat belt is also a way to protect your life. Besides being, by law, mandatory, it is also a moral duty of every citizen.
Believe that you will not want to go through drastic situations that could be avoided by simply using the device.
