Seat belts help keep traffic fatalities down on The Murfreesboro Post

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Seat belts help keep traffic fatalities down

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By: LISA MARCHESONI, Senior Writer

Posted: Sunday, January 17, 2010 7:09 am

Seat belts help keep traffic fatalities down | Traffic, Fatalities

Special Operations Response Team paramedics prepare to lift David Roberds’ vehicle out of the water after he wrecked and died March 25 off Goochie Ford Road, then traveled down a 25-foot embankment. TMP/L. Marchesoni

Wearing seat belts kept traffic fatalities to a stable number for the past five years despite the county’s explosive population growth to 250,000 residents and 215,000 registered vehicles, authorities said.

Twenty-eight people lost their lives in traffic crashes in 2009 as compared with 36 in 2006, the highest of the past five years. Ten people died in Murfreesboro, four in Smyrna and the remaining 14 in Rutherford County. No one died from a traffic fatality in La Vergne or Eagleville.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt. Rick Smith said he believes education about seat belts and more traffic enforcement kept traffic fatalities level.

“I think there’s a greater use of seat belts because of education,” the sergeant said. “Seat belts are definitely the No. 1 savior out there on the road.”

Increased efforts in traffic enforcement resulted in a more successful year with fewer fatalities, he added.

Statewide, preliminary figures from the Department of Safety show that traffic fatalities declined from 1,043 in 2008 to 962 in 2009.

“We are confident our safety campaigns, which focus on rigorous enforcement and education, are clearly making an impact in saving lives, but we can’t afford to become complacent,” Safety Commissioner Dave Mitchell said. “Gov. Phil Bredesen has made it clear that safe communities are one of his top priorities, and that includes safer highways. Every life counts and the only acceptable number of deaths on our roads is zero.”

Murfreesboro Police Sgt. Don Fanning, commander of the Fatal Accident Crash Team, said more people wear seat belts, especially teens and young adults who grew up wearing seat belts.

Most people would survive a fatal crash if they wore seat belts.

“It’s not a magic shield but a chance of survival,” Fanning said.

For example, young mother Jessica Moss, 20, of Murfreesboro properly secured her 3-week-old son into a child restraint seat but failed to fasten her seat belt before she crashed into an empty bus in October near Riverdale High School.

“The child restraint device made all the difference in the world,” Fanning said. “The child didn’t have a scratch. It made all the difference in living and dying. It’s a tragedy the mom died.”

Children under age 4 must be placed in a child restraint seat. Children ages 4 to 9 must be secured in a booster seat.

The seats prevent children from suffering internal injuries with a lap belt during a crash. It’s recommended children sit in the back seat until age 13 because air bags and small children don’t mix well.

Debunking seat belt myths

Fanning listed some myths and truths about reasons why people don’t wear seat belts.

Myth: A driver may believe he will drown if the vehicle lands in a body of water and his seat belt is secured.

Truth: The seat belt keeps the driver from hitting the windshield and possibly losing consciousness if the vehicle lands in water. The seat belt allows the driver to stay in position and escape.

Myth: A driver may believe if the vehicle catches on fire, he will not be able to get out.

Fact: If the crash knocks a driver unconscious, the driver will not escape a burning car.

Fanning quoted his wife, Sharon, about her take on seat belt use.

“If something bad is going to get me, it’s going to have to come in and get me,” Sharon Fanning said. “I’m not going out to meet it.”

Vehicles also help keep drivers and passengers alive. Some vehicles are equipped with side air bags to reduce injuries in side crashes.

Many vehicles are designed to take the hit and crumple in a crash.

“It absorbs a lot of the crash forces so your body doesn’t,” Fanning noted, adding the driver has responsibility to drive safely as well.

“Your car is not made by the people at NASCAR,” Fanning said.

“You can’t drive like that all the time.”

Contributing fatality factors

Use of drugs and alcohol contributed to at least eight fatalities along with speeding.

Smith said speed remains the No. 1 factor in crashes with inattentiveness and aggressive driving as major factors.

“When you couple that with alcohol, you have a formula for bad things to happen,” Smith said. “When they come together, it’s not a pretty sight. To sum it all up, don’t drink and drive, and wear your seat belt and pay attention to what you’re doing. Drive defensively.”

Fanning said alcohol contributed to five of the city’s 10 traffic fatalities. Drugs and alcohol were factors in at least five of the crashes so far with officers waiting on laboratory tests for other crashes.

“Alcohol and drugs are a factor these days,” Fanning said, explaining many drivers don’t realize they are over the legal limit of .08 blood alcohol when they choose to drive.

Other causes of city fatalities were three failures to yield, nine leaving their lane of travel, one following too close and four speeding. Inattentiveness is also listed.

“Sometimes one to three seconds will make all the difference between living and dying,” Fanning said, explaining inattentiveness includes sending text messages and talking on the phone. “At some point, it catches up with you.”

Lisa Marchesoni may be reached at 869-0814 or at lmarchesoni@murfreesborospost.com.

Tagged under Fatalities, Traffic

Member Opinions:

By: arlbigdaddy on 1/18/10
With 93 counties in Tenn. and 962 fatalities, that's an average of 10.3 per county. While 28 is better than 36, it strikes me as alarming that Rutherford County has almost 3 times the fatalities as the county average.

By: kalel196 on 1/19/10
Tennessee has 95 counties

By: Farmall on 1/21/10
Some of the counties have a population in the 4k range. They don't quite have the traffic problems we have.