Abstract
Failure to wear a seat belt is one of the leading causes of road crash death. One is 10 times more likely to be killed in a road crash if one is not wearing a seat belt. The widespread use of seat belts following legislation in the 1970s is regarded as having had a large and significant impact on the road toll, helping to reduce this from over 3500 deaths in 1968 to around 2700 deaths per year 10 years later. (Author/publisher)