(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Drivers who do not use a seat belt are five times more likely to die and front seat passengers are four times more likely to die in a road accident, according to a research.
Drivers and passengers who don't wear seat belts are at a much higher risk of dying, as a result of being ejected from a vehicle, and suffering from severe injury or permanent brain damage if involved in an accident, according to findings released by Hamad Trauma Centre (HTC) at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
The findings are part of an HTC research paper 'The Underutilisation of Occupant Restraint Systems in Motor Vehicle Injury Crashes: A Quantitative Analysis from Qatar' to be published in the Journal of Traffic Injury Prevention.
An HTC team compared the death rate among restrained drivers - crash victims admitted to HTC - with driver-victims not restrained admitted to the centre.
The death rate among the sample group of unrestrained drivers was five times higher. The researchers calculated that if they had been able to convince 10 of these unrestrained drivers to use a seat belt, one life could be saved.
Dr Ayman El Menyar, Research Consultant, HTC, and lead author of the paper added: "Most affected are backseat passengers who are seven times more likely to die if they are not restrained.
"Passengers are 31 times less likely to be ejected from the vehicle if they are using a seat belt. This means the risk of death is three times for those not properly restrained and therefore more likely to be ejected," he said.
Dr Hassan Al Thani, Head of HTC, said he wanted to remind all residents to pay attention to road safety during Ramadan.
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