I attended the monthly meeting of the North Alabama Transportation Foundation in Huntsville on Wednesday. The guest speaker was Joe McInnes, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation. He spoke about the road projects currently being worked, and mentioned several projects that have been completed in recent years. He had a lot to say about traffic safety and high incidents of accidents being factors in decisions to make improvements to roads in Alabama. He spoke of one stretch of highway near Phenix City that Reader’s Digest had designated as one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in America due to 49 deaths over a short distance.

Limestone County’s deadliest stretch is U.S. 72 West where 30 or more people have died in the past few years. A man died this week from injuries sustained in an accident in this area last week. McInnes told us that improvements will be made to this portion of U.S. 72, but this may be three years away.

He said that a few more than 1,000 people were killed in auto accidents in Alabama in 2007, and more than 600 of them were not wearing seat belts. I immediately thought about the accident near Lester last weekend where the man and woman were thrown from their car, which resulted in his death and her being injured. The news report stated they were not wearing seat belts.

Failure to wear a seat belt contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic safety-related behavior. Sixty-three percent of people killed in accidents are not wearing seat belts. Wearing a seat belt is still the single most effective thing we can do to save lives and reduce injuries on Alabama's roadways.

Other data suggests that education alone is not doing the job with young people, especially males, ages 16 to 25, -the age group least likely to buckle up. They simply do not believe they will be injured or killed.

Yet they are the nation’s highest-risk drivers, with more drunk driving, more speeding, and more crashes. Neither education nor fear of injury or death seems strong enough to motivate this tough-to-reach group. Rather, it takes stronger seat belt laws and high visibility enforcement campaigns to get them to buckle up.

Seat belts are the most effective safety devices in vehicles today, yet only 68 percent of auto occupants are buckled. In Alabama, more than 60 percent of the occupants killed in fatal crashes last year were unrestrained. If 90 percent of Alabamians buckle up, deaths and injuries would drastically decline. The cost of unbuckled drivers and passengers goes beyond those killed and the loss to their families. We all pay for those who don't buckle up -in higher taxes, higher health care and higher insurance costs.

Imagine running as fast as you can — into a wall. You'd expect to get pretty banged up. Do you think you could stop yourself if the wall suddenly loomed up when you were two feet away from it? This is exactly the situation you face when the front of your car hits something at only 15 mph. The car stops, but you keep on at the same rate you were going in the car until something stops you — the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield — if you're not wearing your safety belt. Bad enough at 15 mph, but at 30 you hit “the wall” four times as hard as you would at 15. Or to put it another way, with the same impact you'd feel as if you fell three stories. A properly worn seat belt keeps that from happening.

People have many reasons why they don't want to buckle up. They're only going a short distance; I'm a good driver; I'll just brace myself; I'm afraid the belt will trap me in the car; The belt is uncomfortable; and I don't need it because I have an air bag. Most traffic fatalities occur within 25 miles of home at speeds less than 40 mph. A bad driver can hit you, no matter how good you drive. You really don't have time to brace yourself. You are 25 times more likely to die in an accident if you are thrown from the car. You can also get out quicker if you haven't been knocked unconscious inside the car. Any seat belt can be made more comfortable. An airbag enhances your safety inside the car, but doesn't replace the seat belt.

The solution is simple. Each one of us who drive should not let any passenger in our vehicle be unbuckled. It is the law, it makes sense, and it will save lives.