Seatbelts and road traffic collision injuries

Abstract

Modification of seatbelts and their legislation played an important role in reducing morbidity and mortality of occupants in road traffic collisions. We aimed to review seatbelt development, its mechanism of action and its effects. Seatbelts reduce injury by preventing the occupant from hitting the interior parts of the vehicle or being ejected from the car. We have made a linear regression correlation between the overall seatbelt compliance and road traffic death rates in 46 high income countries to study the relationship between seatbelt use and mortality. There was a very highly significant negative correlation between the seatbelt compliance and road traffic death rates (R = - 0.77, F = 65.5, p < 0.00001). Seatbelt-related injuries include spinal, abdominal or pelvic injuries. The presence of a seatbelt sign must raise the suspicion of an intra-abdominal injury. These injuries can be reduced if seatbelts were applied correctly. Although seatbelts were recognized as an important safety measure, it still remains underused in many countries. Enforcement of seatbelt usage by law is mandatory so as to reduce the toll of death of road traffic collisions.

Has the Incidence of Thoracolumbar Spine Injuries Increased in the United States From 1998 to 2011?

“…Although the improved availability, costeffectiveness, and speed of CT scans likely has contributed to this finding, we cannot be certain that this is the only driver of the increased incidence observed in our study. In other settings, trade-offs in MVC-related injuries were observed as new safety techniques allowed for increased survival [1,7,11] but no such trade-offs were observed in our study. As seatbelt and airbag technologies continue to improve, thoracolumbar injuries may be trade-offs for injuries to other anatomic regions not evaluated in our study.…”

“…Increases in nonfatal injuries in exchange for decreases in more serious and fatal injuries have been seen in other settings [1,7,11]. In our study, however, no consistent compensatory decreasing trends were observed in sacropelvic injuries as a whole.…”

“…Likewise, one study indicated that the occurrence of spinal fractures associated with MVCs had increased in Wisconsin from 1994 to 2002 [20]. As more people survive MVCs, a wider variety of nonfatal injuries have been seen and evaluated [1,7,11]. When lap belts were introduced, their use was responsible for saving countless lives.…”

“…However, it soon was discovered that such lap belts were associated with a constellation of abdominal and spinal injuries, termed ''seatbelt syndrome.'' Such injuries may serve as trade-off injuries for more severe or fatal injuries that may have occurred had the occupant not been restrained [1,11]. Lap belts mostly have been replaced with lap-shoulder belts, which have improved efficacy compared with lap belts, especially in combination with airbag use [1].…”

“…Such injuries may serve as trade-off injuries for more severe or fatal injuries that may have occurred had the occupant not been restrained [1,11]. Lap belts mostly have been replaced with lap-shoulder belts, which have improved efficacy compared with lap belts, especially in combination with airbag use [1]. It is possible that a new breed of trade-off injuries has developed in response to these new technologies.…”