Unbuckled in the Back Seat? You’ll Become a Human Missile in a Crash

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August 1st, 2017

USA Today: When a car crashes with a passenger in the back seat who isn’t using a seat belt, the unbelted rear-seat passenger can slam into the driver’s seat, pushing the driver into the airbag and steering wheel with a 35 mile per hour impact, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The issue takes on special importance given the popularity of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, plus taxicabs, where customers are more likely to go unbelted than in their own vehicles, says Jessica Jermakian, an IIHS senior researcher who co-authored the study. In 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, 1,018 unrestrained rear-seat occupants died in auto accidents.