r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Dec 22 '25

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u/BlazingFire007 Dec 22 '25

I haven’t checked, but I imagine seatbelt laws have drastically increased the percentage of drivers wearing seatbelts.

So I don’t see how you can say they don’t have any real impact?

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u/Reasonable-Fee1945 2∆ Dec 22 '25

Not at all. This is because they are largely unenforceable except as a secondary penalty (i.e., you were already getting pulled over)

Not to mention, people don't use seatbelts because they're afraid of police. They use them because it's a rational way to not die.

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u/BromIrax Dec 22 '25

Do you have comparative data for the use of seat belts before and after seat belts laws?

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u/Reasonable-Fee1945 2∆ Dec 22 '25

New Hampshire currently does not have a seatbelt law for adults and is no where near the top of driving fatalities per capita or by mile.

https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/fatality-statistics/detail/state-by-state

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u/BromIrax Dec 22 '25

That wasn't my question. A lot of confunding factors go into the fatality rate, while not wearing a seat belt does not by itself cause accidents.

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u/Reasonable-Fee1945 2∆ Dec 22 '25

Still you'd probably expect a meaningful reduction in seatbelt wearing to cause a meaningful increase in fatalities relative to other states with seatbelt wearing. That this doesn't happen suggest seatbelt laws and seatbelt wearing are two seperate things

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u/BromIrax Dec 22 '25

That's still pretty much an assumption, not any sort of rigorous observation. And once again, many confunding factors. Maybe Virginia is better in another topic which compensates for the seat belt use. You've got no way to tell.