All too often I have heard fleet operators complain that they can't get their drivers to use seat belts. This is most unfortunate because, as I have said many times before, an unused seat belt is like having no seat belt at all.

Human nature being what it is, many fleet drivers feel that they are immune to accidents. The "other guy" is going to have the accident seems to be the philosophy of many drivers. Unfortunately, this is not true. Although many accidents can be avoided through careful driving, there is always the unexpected-the car crashing through a stop sign; the car that is rammed from the rear.

The National Safety Council recently said that 30,500 persons died in traffic accidents in the first 10 months of 1964. This represents a gain of 10 per cent over the 1963 highway death toll. Couple this with the fact that the American Medical Assn. estimates that 25 per cent of all traffic deaths would be eliminated if everyone wore a seat belt and you come up with a tragic waste of human life. Using the AMA figures, an estimated 75,000 lives would have been saved in the past 10 years if everyone wore a seat belt. How many fleet drivers needlessly lose their lives?

A recent court decision in Wisconsin should act as a spur to get drivers to use their seat belt.
A circuit court jury in Sheboygan ruled that the failure of a motorist involved in an auto collision to use seat belts in the auto was sufficient cause to reduce the amount of damages by 10 per cent. The jury held that by not using seat belts the motorist was negligent.

If failure to use seat belts could result in a financial penalty perhaps there would be more incentive for fleet drivers to buckle up when they sit down in an auto.

Most of us wouldn't think of jumping the middle of the ocean without a life preserver, if we couldn't swim. That would be ridiculous. Yet millions of drivers jump every day into the ocean of today's hazardous traffic without the protection of a seat belt.

Many fleet drivers claim that they don't need seat belts because they only drive in town at low speeds. There is no validity to this argument since statistics prove that three out of four traffic accidents occur within 25 miles of home or office and more than half the injuries or fatal accidents occur at speeds under forty miles an hour. Statistics show that if you don't wear a seat belt the chance of suffering injuries are one in forty. The odds are increased in your favor to one in 250 if you wear a belt.