Each year, every driver in Montana pays an extra $51 in taxes and insurance premiums to help cover the health-care costs of people who don't buckle up, according to a study released this week by Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle.
People who don't wear their seatbelts are more likely to get hurt, but are less likely to be insured and more likely to rely on Medicaid for their insurance, Dr. Beth Ebel, director of the center, said Thursday.
"There's this attitude that it's your own darn fault if you're not wearing your seatbelt and you get injured and that you can suffer the consequences," Ebel said. "Unfortunately, that's not really how it works. If you get injured, it may be your own darn fault, but we all pay."
In Montana, 20 percent of the people traveling in vehicles don't wear their seatbelt, compared to 4 percent in Washington, she said.
Montana also happens to have the second-highest rate of traumatic brain injury in the nation and the leading cause of those injuries is vehicle crashes.
"Just a couple weeks ago, we had a one car rollover where the driver was ejected and ended up with a traumatic brain injury," said Chris Benton, a registered nurse and trauma coordinator at Beartooth Hospital in Red Lodge. "The passenger, who was wearing a seatbelt, climbed out of the car with somewhat minor injuries."
In 2008, more than 70 percent of the people who died in car crashes in Montana weren't wearing a seatbelt.
"What's frustrating about this is this is so totally preventable," Ebel said. "And not only that, it's against the law."
Seatbelts are required by law in Montana for each passenger in a vehicle, both in the front and back seats, although police can't pull a vehicle over simply because someone isn't strapped in.
However, police in 30 other states, where so-called "primary seat-belt enforcement laws" exist, are allowed to stop vehicles in which someone isn't buckled up. And 64 percent of Montana residents would support such a law here, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey.
The study by Harborview Center, part of the University of Washington, found that people who ignore the existing seatbelt law collectively cost Montanans more than $36 million in health-care costs each year. And that figure doesn't include ongoing rehabilitation, nursing home or other after-care costs, Ebel said.
The state pays more than $14 million annually for hospital care of unbelted patients. The rest of the tab is picked up by private insurance companies and the federal government.
"It's still passed on to you and me through taxes and increased premiums," Ebel said.
Researchers also found that an average of 887 people who weren't wearing their seatbelt during a crash are hospitalized each year in Montana. Of those people, 819, or 92 percent, sustained a more serious injury because they weren't buckled up.
Interestingly, people are less likely to buckle up at night.
In 2008, 12,671 people died in motor vehicle crashes nationwide between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of those who people died after nighttime crashes were not wearing seatbelts, compared to less than half, or 45 percent, of the people killed during the daytime hours who weren't belted in.
The national Click It or Ticket campaign, when police ramp up enforcement of seatbelt laws, starts Monday and runs through June 6. A ticket for failing to wear a seatbelt in Montana costs $20.
Amanda Ricker can be reached at aricker@dailychronicle.com or 582-2628.
truthbearer posted at 1:06 pm on Sat, May 22, 2010.
I would like to point the inaccuracies of this article. Only two people were thrown from the car. This is the second time the Bozeman Chronicle has published wrong info. The first time was the original article citing that one had died which was not true. I am staying with the family of these boys from the picture of the accident above helping them in this part of life that is extremely difficult. I also would like to add that no government agency from the state of Montana has helped with these boys medical bills. They have been completely on their own. However, Bozeman Deaconess hospital wrote off many medical expenses. The awesome thing the Bozeman Chronicle should do is a follow up article 10 months after the accident. There have been so many blessings and positive things that have came from this accident. Strangers have became family. Strangers lives have been changed who have never met this family through the accident. This accident has been a blessing to so many. Lives have been changed through Christ! There is a huge inspirational story here to tell and it would be really awesome for the Bozeman Chronicle to do something really awesome that will inspire so many people in and around Bozeman. Check out www.bejeremyslegs.com for info.
and http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/vangsnesboys/journal
The latest inspirational story that has yet to be posted on the Inman Times website is about a family who just lost their husband and father. The wife donated their wheelchair van to this family who has been without a van since the accident. What a huge blessing and inspiration. To God be the glory. Their website once it is up, is www.hometown-news.com. The title of the article is called, "Paying it forward."
ravenwatcher posted at 11:21 am on Sat, May 22, 2010.
I like the part about percentage of people that wear seat belts in Washington. By PlantGeek's logic, then, are Washingtonians on average 5 times smarter than Montanans?
smarterthanu posted at 10:40 pm on Fri, May 21, 2010.
Very kind words from an anonymous person. The funny thing is, I never said I didn't wear a seat belt; you just assumed I don't. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. I don't drink and drive. I do wear a seat belt. And I promise I am more intelligent, better looking, more athletic, more advanced, and doing more to contribute positively to this society than you. Now get back in your greenhouse.
PlantGeek posted at 9:22 pm on Fri, May 21, 2010.
Smarterthanu, if you default on your hospital bill because your brain has been turned to mush in a car accident and you don't have insurance or existing funds to pay, the hospital passes on your unpaid bills to the rest of us. Personally, I don't care if you decide not to wear a seatbelt, but do us a favor - die in the accident to save us the hospital and long-term care costs and do it before you procreate your substandard genes to the next generation. I'll be you smoke, too.
smarterthanu posted at 2:15 pm on Fri, May 21, 2010.
This could not be further from the truth. If I suffer injuries in a car accident, who's paying my hospital bills? I am. I don't have health insurance, but that doesn't mean someone else is automatically footing the bill for me. Maybe if people started paying their own bills, this wouldn't be a problem.
thoughtful_mom posted at 12:28 pm on Fri, May 21, 2010.
Interesting article. Seems a bit like some people doing what they want and not wearing a seat belt, but then the rest of us have a higher insurance bill and more taxes to pay for their hospital bills- just what I dont need this year. This isn't my free choice. Quit extracting MY fees for YOUR services.
redman posted at 10:08 am on Fri, May 21, 2010.
Get off it already! EVERYBODY knows seatbelts save lives and yet we don't wear them anyway. We also know that government quislings love to live our lives for us, and extract a fee for their services. If the government really cared about your health and welfare, they wouldn't let you drive cars AT ALL.