Effectiveness of Seat Belts in Preventing Motor-Vehicle Injuries

Abstract

APPROXIMATELY 1,200,000 persons in the United States are injured, and about 40,000 die per year from automobile accidents. Despite this the passenger automobile is becoming increasingly important as an essential instrument of modern living, as shown by the increase from 37,000,000 automobiles in the United States in 1946 to 62,000,000 in 1958 and an estimated 82,000,000 in 1966.¹ In the face of pleas for funds to fight the many diseases that still threaten health and happiness it is sobering to think that automobile accidents alone are either the first, second, third or fourth leading cause of death in all age . . .