Seat belts and Car Accidents 

Yet another way in which you can improve safety while driving is USING seat-belts.

Much research has been devoted over the years towards the study of the effect of seat-belts on car safety.  Some countries went as far as to making it mandatory to fasten seatbelts while driving.

What is the role of seatbelts/safetybelts? Generally, from a technical point of view a seat-belt  is nothing more and nothing less than a safety harness designed to keep the driver and passengers in their seats and in this way helping them avoid injury resulting from the car crash impact or rapid vehicle stop.

The role that seatbelts play are best portrayed by some statistical data:

Safety belts when used properly reduce the number of serious traffic injuries by 50 percent and fatalities by 60-70 percent.

For maximum protection safety belts should be fastened before traveling any distance or speed. Seventy-five percent of crash deaths and injuries occur within 25 miles of home. More than half of all injury-producing motor vehicle crashes involve low speeds under 40 m.p.h.

Motorists are 25 times are more likely to be killed or seriously injured when they are "thrown clear" than when remain inside their vehicle.

Today over 25 countries around the world have some type of mandatory safety belt law. Results of these laws were measured; usage rate went from 20-25 percent before passage to 60-90 percent after passage.

A common cause of death and injury to children in motor vehicles is being crushed by adults who are not wearing safety belts. On out of four serious injuries to passengers is caused by occupants being thrown into each other. 
Of every 100 children who die in motor vehicle crashes at least 80 would survive if they were properly secured in an approved child safety seat or safety belts.

Source: http://www.jmu.edu/safetyplan/vehicle/generaldriver/safetybelt.shtml

The most common seatbelt type is the “three point belt”. A Swedish invention, this belt type was introduced back in 1959 – with the Volvo PV 544. Below is an image of the three point belt: