New legislation which would require all passengers, front and back, to wear seat belts is currently being debated in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Current law only requires the passenger and front seat passengers to wear seat belts. According to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission 81% of Louisianians buckle up, but only 22% of rear seat passengers do.
645 of the 699 car crash fatalities in Louisiana last year involved both front and back riders who were not wearing seat belts. Statistics prove that for every 1% increase in seat belt use nationally, 270 lives are saved. Why should Louisiana be different from most other states who require all passengers to buckle up?
When Louisiana enacted laws requiring seat belt use for drivers and front seat passengers, seat belt use quickly doubled. If we pass this new back seat belt law, hopefully we’ll see a similar jump in compliance and fewer car crash fatalities in the news.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
I had no idea that Louisiana law doesn’t require seat belt use for back seat passengers. Thanks for the information – will spread the news for our community to support this new legislation.