In the course of the survey, 27,000 adult car occupants were observed in all state capitals in the spring. The occasion is the current UN Road Safety Week. According to the ÖAMTC, 92 percent of those observed were buckled up, but eight percent were not.
There are, in some cases, clear differences between the federal states: According to the ÖAMTC, belt discipline is highest in Salzburg (98 percent) and Carinthia (95 percent) – and lowest in Vienna, where only 87 percent were buckled up. It was the same in all federal states that women buckle up more often than men. In Vienna, for example, 91 percent of women rode with seatbelts – but only 86 percent of men.
Many people killed in an accident are not wearing seat belts
It is “widely known that the risk of being seriously or fatally injured in an accident is significantly higher without a seatbelt”, emphasizes ÖAMTC traffic engineer David Nosé in a broadcast. In the past five years, almost a third of those who were not wearing a seat belt were seriously or fatally injured in accidents – compared to only around nine percent of those who were wearing a seat belt. Of 146 fatal car occupants in the previous year, 27 percent were not wearing seat belts, according to the ÖAMTC.
According to Nosé, the airbag, for example, can only be fully effective with a belt, the correct sitting position and correctly adjusted headrest. According to the ÖAMTC, it is also noticeable that people in the front car seats buckle up more often than in the back rows: “However, if you sit in the back and do not buckle up, you not only endanger yourself but also those in front of them,” Nosé is quoted as saying.
Belt also important at 30 km / h
The traffic engineer does not accept the argument of many that they would only be traveling in the local area or on routes that are well known to them anyway. Almost two thirds of all accidents would happen in the local area: “And on familiar routes in particular, you tend to drive more carelessly because you think you know every inch,” says Nosé. In addition, according to the ÖAMTC, the forces released are already so great in the event of an impact at 30 km / h that you can no longer support yourself with your arms and legs.
Seat belt compulsory in Austria since 1976
The seat belt requirement was introduced in Austria on July 15, 1976. Only since July 1, 1985 has violations been punished. The amount of the fine was 100 schillings at the beginning, i.e. the equivalent of around seven euros. Today you pay a fine of at least 35 euros. If a child is not properly secured, there is a risk of a fine of up to 5,000 euros and a reservation in the driver’s license register.
According to the ÖAMTC, around 1,900 people died in road traffic in Austria every year before the introduction of seat belts. In 1985 – with the introduction of the penalties for not wearing seat belts – the number then fell to around 1,500 deaths. Seat belt discipline is increasing, at least according to the ÖAMTC surveys: in 2017, just under eleven percent of car occupants were not buckled up. Burgenland had the largest number of “belt grouches” back then – namely 23.5 percent. Vienna took second place with 16.1 percent of those who were not wearing a seat belt.
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