Seatbelts Do Save Lives!

Every week, the Null dissects the most self-evident studies and pointless papers not to hit the headlines. It's harsh, but funny. This week, fasten your seatbelts!

A recent university study wowed readers when it concluded that failing to wear a seatbelt increases your chance of being killed in a car crash.

In many rural US communities, there is little or no enforcement of the law to wear a seat belt whilst driving. In more than half of the states, police officers can stop drivers for having a broken rear light or out of date tax disk, yet they can’t say a word when it comes to wearing a seat belt.

Figures have shown that whilst around 20 percent of Americans live in the countryside, they account for almost 60 percent of all roads deaths. What’s more, those states with the highest rural fatalities also had the worst records for seat belt law enforcement.

But that’s not the end of the story, some people argue. As well as being more likely to suffer a horrific injury because their not wearing a seatbelt, rural drivers have to wait longer for emergency services to arrive. Couple this with quieter country roads making drivers more inclined to drive with a false sense of security, and you’ve got an accident, literally, waiting to happen.

Why not try another study of the bleedin' obvious? or get some other stories from the Null: