The most frequently stated reason for not wearing safety belts given in a recent survey of Michigan licensed drivers was that they might trap an occupant in a car which had either caught on fire or was immersed in water. This report presents a series of analyses intended to explore the incidence of death from automobile fires and immersions and the association between belt usage and such deaths. A number of sources of accident data are used in the study. The Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS), the National Crash Severity Study (NCSS), and the National Accident Sampling System (NASS), all provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are used to provide nationally representative statistics. The national data are augmented by data from the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Washington for a number of analyses for which these sources provide specific advantages. The analyses indicate that deaths from fire or immersion accidents are rare among traffic fatalities. The capability of self-rescue in an emergency such as fire or immersion is preserved by measures which increase the likelihood of remaining conscious. Not using restraints approximately doubles the probability of losing consciousness after a crash. The likelihood of death is over 40 times as great if one is ejected than if one remains in the car. In contrast to the low incidence of death from fire or immersion, 22 percent of the fatally injured passenger car occupants are ejected, and restraints nearly eliminate ejection.
Abstract