Survey: Passengers in Hired Vehicles Often Do Not Use Seat Belts

For most people wearing a seat belt is a prerequisite of traveling safely in any type of vehicle, however, a recent seat belt survey was conducted to find out how many passengers actually buckle up in hired vehicles. By hired vehicles we mean, taxis and ride-sharing services such as Uber. This survey was conducted by the Highway Safety in order to find out how many people actually fasten their seat belts in hired and personal vehicles. According to their findings, approximately 91% of people claim that they fasten their seat belts the moment they enter their personal cars and 75% claim that they wear seatbelts if traveling in the back seat.

However, this survey also exonerates disturbing data as it states that only 57 percent of people actually use seat belts in hired vehicles! These figures are very disturbing indeed as a substantial number of people are risking their lives by not wearing seat belts in hired vehicles. If that’s not enough, this survey also states that 66% of the respondents state that they fasten their seatbelts when traveling in the back seat and women are more likely to fasten their seat belts no matter which seat they are traveling. This survey focused on many external variables as well. Some factors that were also taken into perspective were the respondent’s previous driving history, education, gender, and age. By taking age into consideration it was ascertained that individuals who fall within the age group of fifty-four and thirty-five skip wearing a seat belt altogether!

The survey then focused on ride-sharing services or hired cars and the results were quite alarming. Most respondents claimed that they have never even considered wearing a seat belt in the back seat of a hired car such as a taxi. While others who utilize ride-sharing services claimed that if they travel in the passenger seat, then they would automatically buckle up. However, if they travel in the back seat then they do not wear seat belts or even consider wearing one. When each respondent was questioned on why they do not wear seat belts in hired cars, they all had the same response deeming this security measure as unnecessary. This is quite alarming as it enunciates the fact that most people only wear seatbelts because of the legal consequences and do not wear their belts for personal safety.

Another factor which comes into play is the fact that most vehicles on the market today do not have rear seat belt notifications. In standard cars, your vehicle will atomically give an audible notification to remind the driver and the passenger to buckle up, but rear seat passengers are given no audible. This is exactly why the Highway Safety has issued a request to all automobile companies to incorporate rear seat belt notifications and further stated that this might be the solution to this issue!  Next time you get in a hired car or a ride-sharing service, please buckle up as that seat belt might be the only thing standing in your way if something goes wrong.