In 2019, young people who don’t wear seatbelts are still dying on the road

When you go bungee jumping, ziplining, rock climbing, paragliding, or parachuting, you buckle up. Otherwise, you could die. When you get in a car, it’s the same thing. You buckle up, or else…

Even though we know all this, many people—especially young people—still fail to fasten their seatbelts in cars. This is no trivial matter, since not wearing a seatbelt is among the causes of more than a third of all road deaths among 15–24-year-olds, or 35.5%⁽¹⁾.

That's shocking!

“In other words, when a young person loses their life on the road, there’s a one-in-three chance it’s because they weren’t wearing a seatbelt,” says CAA-Quebec Foundation director Marco Harrison. “What’s even more shocking about this statistic is that it went up 10% in the latest road safety record from Société d’assurance automobile du Québec. That’s sad because seatbelts can make all the difference. They reduce the risk of being killed or seriously injured in a road accident by half⁽²⁾. There’s nothing more effective!”

50 km/h = 4-storey fall

There’s no reason not to wear a seatbelt, even when you feel like you’re not going fast. Hitting an obstacle at 50 km/h is equivalent to a 4-storey fall⁽²⁾. So imagine at 100 km/h...

30 lives saved is worth it, right?

Fastening your seatbelt doesn’t hurt, it’s mandatory (unless you want 3 demerit points and a $200 to $300 fine, plus expenses) and, most importantly, it saves lives. Experts say wearing a seatbelt prevents 30 deaths and 75 serious injuries on Quebec roads each year⁽²⁾. So why not wear one? There’s no good answer. 

With summer vacation around the corner, it’s simple: when you hit the road, whether as a passenger or driver, no matter your age, BUCKLE UP!

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^{(1) Source: 2018 road safety record, Société d’assurance automobile du Québec}

^{(2) Source: Société d’assurance automobile du Québec}