Before the invention of the seatbelt, car accident fatalities were becoming increasingly high and were starting to become a concern for Americans. Many people do not understand the importance of wearing a seatbelt. Various studies have shown that half of these fatal accidents could have been prevented if the driver/passengers would have worn their seatbelt. Even knowing these statistics, many people still decide against wearing a seatbelt because they think it does nothing or can be potentially harmful in the case of an accident. The invention of seatbelts has impacted American society with awareness for safety while driving and decreasing possible fatalities. Before seatbelts became mandatory, the car industry was at all time high and new …show more content…
During the mid-1980s, while automatic restraint systems were being tested in production, crash research studies were leading to the conclusion that an inflatable air bag could help supplement occupant protection in an accident along with seatbelts and shoulder harnesses (How Does the Auto Process Recall Work). These systems were eventually added into new vehicles and became mandatory in certain passenger vehicles in the 1990's and were gradually passed into other types of vehicles. At the dawn of the twentieth first century, mass market automobiles gave the promise to Americans the freedom they craved. This also created new hazards with the power, weight, and speed of automobiles made it more likely for more fatal injuries then with a bicycle accident. Comparing the United Kingdom (UK) to America about the usage of seatbelts especially in truck drivers, has continued to be a disappointment. Seatbelts save lives, but some semi-truck drivers seem to think it is an optional choice and that only other people's lives need saving. In 2009, the British Department for Transport (DFT) suggested that the wear rate for seatbelts was only about 30%, since then they have gotten better but it is still common to see drivers without a seatbelt