The BC Coroners Service (BCCS) is urging all drivers and passengers in motor vehicles to use their seatbelts at all times.
The BCCS has just completed a detailed study of fatal motor-vehicle crashes in the Interior that shows a high proportion of those who died were not wearing seatbelts – with devastating results.
Although numerous studies by the RCMP and Transport Canada show that at least 90 per cent of British Columbians wear their seatbelts, the BCCS study showed fewer than 60 per cent of those who died were wearing them at the time they crashed.
The BCCS study looked in detail at fatal motor-vehicle crashes for 2010 in the Interior (crashes involving motorcycles, cyclists or pedestrians were not included).
Of the 85 fatalities, 47 per cent were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, 41 per cent were definitely not, and seatbelt usage was unknown in 12 per cent of the cases.
The BCCS is continuing work on similar studies in other regions of the province. The first study was done in the Interior because coroners there had noted a high proportion of persons not wearing their seatbelts in the crashes they were investigating.
Consider the following:
• Total number of deaths investigated – 85.
• Of those, 62 per cent were drivers and 35 per cent were passengers. In two per cent of cases, it could not be determined definitively who had been the driver in the crash.
• Of those who died, 62 per cent were male and 38 per cent were female.
• Gender made little difference as to whether people wore their seatbelt. Of the males who died, 45 per cent were wearing seatbelts, and 41.5 were not wearing them, with seatbelt usage unknown for 13.5 per cent.
Of the females who died, 50 per cent were wearing seatbelts, and 41 per cent were not, with usage unknown for nine per cent.
• People involved in a crash in which the driver was impaired by alcohol or drugs were significantly less likely to have been wearing their seatbelt. In cases in which impairment was a factor, only 25 per cent of those who died had been wearing their seatbelts. Sixty-four per cent had not, and usage was unknown for 11 per cent.
• In cases in which impairment was not a factor, however, 58 per cent were wearing their seatbelts, 30 per cent were not, and usage was unknown in 12 per cent.
• Tourists and people who did not live in the Interior were significantly more likely to have been wearing their seatbelts than local residents. Of the people from outside the region, 61 per cent were wearing their seatbelts, 29 per cent were not, and usage was unknown for 11 per cent.
For local residents, only 37 per cent were wearing their seatbelts, 49 per cent were not, and usage was unknown for 14 per cent. This mirrors the finding of many studies, which show people are more likely to wear seatbelts on lengthy trips, such as highway driving, than on short trips around their home communities.
