By Dave Bean, FMW Associate Editor
August 30, 2023
At present, seat belt audible and visual warnings are only required for the driver’s seat, ostensibly making the right front passenger seat and rear passenger seats optional zones in terms of buckling up.
In an attempt to prevent fatalities and injuries they have determined are a result of this lack of admonition for passengers, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is recommending a statute that would require vehicle manufacturers to include a warning system specifically directed at riders in both the front and rear seats. It is estimated the law would save more than one hundred lives each year, as well as preventing about 300 injuries resulting from traffic accidents.
“Wearing a seat belt is one of the most effective ways to prevent injury and death in a crash,” NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson said. “In 2021, almost 43,000 people lost their lives on America’s roads, and half of those in vehicles were unbelted. This proposed rule can help reduce that number by getting more to buckle up.”
Under the revised rule, NHTSA would require a visual alert lasting a minimum of 60 seconds be activated when a passenger in the rear has failed to buckle up on start-up. Another 30-second audio and visual alert would be triggered if a rear passenger unbuckles once the vehicle is in motion. Similar alerts would be required for the front passenger seat, as well.
Under the proposal, automakers would be free to create and customize facets of the seat belt warning system, including volume and frequency of alerts. The goal, of course, would be to generate audio and visual cues that would be both effective and yet not irritate the vehicle’s occupants.
The primary reason for the NHTSA proposal is that, despite the fact that overall seat belt usage is markedly higher than it was ten years ago, usage in the rear seat continues to lag. Research has shown that buckling up in the rear seats saves proportionately more lives than those wearing seat belts up front – thus, the urgency. The recommended requirement hopes to institute an industry standard that will foster greater seat belt usage leading to fewer road fatalities.
