Table 2-31: Estimated Number of Lives Saved by Occupant Protection, Motorcycle Helmets, and Drinking Age Law
| 1975-1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | (R) 2009 | (P) 2010 | Total 1975-2010 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety beltsa,b | 68,940 | 9,882 | 10,710 | 11,259 | 11,680 | 11,941 | 12,882 | 13,295 | 14,264 | 15,095 | 15,548 | 15,688 | 15,458 | 15,223 | 13,312 | 12,763 | 12,546 | 280,486 |
| Air bagsc | 730 | 536 | 783 | 973 | 1,208 | 1,491 | 1,716 | 1,978 | 2,324 | 2,519 | 2,660 | 2,752 | 2,824 | 2,800 | 2,557 | 2,387 | 2,306 | 32,544 |
| Motorcycle helmets | 15,076 | 624 | 617 | 627 | 660 | 745 | 872 | 947 | 992 | 1,173 | 1,324 | 1,554 | 1,667 | 1,788 | 1,836 | 1,486 | 1,550 | 33,538 |
| Age 21 minimum legal drinking age | 14,816 | 851 | 846 | 846 | 861 | 901 | 922 | 927 | 922 | 918 | 927 | 882 | 888 | 831 | 716 | 626 | 550 | 28,230 |
| Child restraints | 3,107 | 408 | 480 | 444 | 438 | 447 | 479 | 388 | 383 | 447 | 455 | 424 | 427 | 388 | 286 | 307 | 303 | 9,611 |
KEY: R = revised.
a Represents all adults and children age 5 and older. Data are for passenger vehicles, which include cars, light trucks, vans, pickups, and utility vehicles. Excludes medium and heavy trucks.
b In 2002, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revised its method for estimating lives saved by safety belts. The previous method included survey data from states with and without belt use laws. The current method relies on police-reported restraint use information for each individual occupant fatality. Also, the estimate now includes lives saved in passenger vehicles at all seating positions, where previously it had been front outboard positions only.
c In 2002, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revised the method for calculating lives saved by air bags.
SOURCES
1975-2008: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2009 (Final Edition) (Washington DC: 2011), http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/cats/listpublications.aspx?Id=E&ShowBy=DocType as of Dec. 16, 2011.
2009-10: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, personal communications, Jun. 7, 2012.