$AFETY & THE BOTTOM LINE
The Economics of Seat Belts
By Glenn Demby, SafetyXChange.org

The best reason for wearing seat belts is to prevent injuries and fatalities. 

The second best reason for wearing seat belts is to save money. 

Every injury seat belts prevent represents a significant savings in medical care, productivity losses and other related costs.
Consider the following figures to get a feel for the dollars at stake: 

$26 Billion: The annual economic costs to society of deaths and injuries that would have been prevented by seat belt use.

135,000: The number of fatalities prevented by seat belts in the past 26 years.

3.8 Million: The number of non-fatal injuries prevented by seat belts in the past 26 years.

$585 Billion: The amount of money society saved thanks to the fatalities and injuries seat belts prevented in the past 26 years.

315,000: The number of fatalities that would have been prevented in the past 26 years if accident victims had been wearing seat belts.

5.2 Million: The number of non-fatal injuries that would have been prevented in the past 26 years if accident victims had been wearing seat belts. 

$913 Billion: The amount of money society would have saved in the past 26 years if the above fatalities and injuries had been prevented. 

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The first figure ($26 billion) is based on data from 2001. See, http://www.safecommunities.org/articles/308/1/Alcohol-and-Seatbelt-Statistics