Paper Topic:

Promotion of Seat Belt Safety in Adolescents

Promotion of Seat belt Safety among Adolescents

Car accidents lead to extensive physical pain and premature death the world over (CDCP , 2001 . Motor vehicle accidents remain as the main cause of death for 16- to 20-year-olds , accounting for approximately 5 ,500 occupant fatalities annually (NHTSA , 2005a . Each year , around 450 ,000 teenagers are injured , and 27 ,000 of them require hospitalization (NHTSA , 2005b . Of those killed , approximately 63 are drivers , 37 are passengers and 66 of teenagers who die in automobile crashes are male (NHTSA , 2005a . Among 16- to 24-year olds , only

77 wear seat belts (NHTSA NCSA , 2005

One study suggests that teenagers do not wear seat belts because : it is not `cool due to peer pressure their usage wrinkles clothes and causes discomfort the short distance to be traveled and , the feeling that `nothing will happen to me (Volkswagen of America , n .d . Boyle et al (2004 ) found that almost half of teenagers (47 ) say that seat belts are `as likely to cause harm as to help ' while others report that wearing a seat belt makes them `worry more about being in an accident (27 , and that they would feel `self-conscious if they were going against the group norm in wearing safety belts (30

Laws on seat belt use is present in most developed world - with the U .S seeking to increase seat belt use to 92 (US DoH , 2000 , which is similar to how other countries prioritize its use (UK DoH , 1999 . Aside from legal mechanisms , driver 's education plays a great part in disseminating the value of seat belts among teenage drivers . The Graduated Driver Licensing system has imposed adolescents some restrictions in driving . School-based and media promotions reached every individual driving adolescent in the awareness of car accidents related to non-use of seat belts (Grossman Garcia , 1999

Estimated to save 9 ,500 lives yearly , seat belts have proven to be the most effective safety devices in vehicles at present (NHTSA , 2000 However , only 68 of motor vehicle occupants use seat belts . If 90 of Americans buckle-up , more than 5 ,500 deaths and 132 ,000 injuries can be prevented per year . On the average , inpatient hospital care costs for non-seat belted vehicular victim are 50 more compared to seat belted victims . The victims do not pay for these costs society does , assuming 85 of the costs (Dinh-Zarr et al , 2001

An annual savings of 8 .8 billion will be made if the 90 seat belt usage will be reached (NHSTA , 2005a . The medical costs , lost future work and reduced quality of life are not enough exchange for not wearing seat belts . The cost of lost lives from the recklessness behavior of non-use of seat belt is too much to call for imposing health promotion on belt safety (NHTSA , 2000

This seeks to utilize the promotion approach to achieve higher compliance of seat belt use among adolescents . Indubitably , the seat belt problem raises important questions about the extent to which people will act voluntarily to reduce...

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