401 crash offers stark seat-belt reminder
Despite hefty fines and decades of warnings by safety advocates, there are millions of Canadians who still don't wear seat belts - a fact driven home by a dramatic crash on Canada's busiest highway, where seat belts spelled the difference between minor injury and near death for seven young men.
The seven were riding in the van when it went out of control on Highway 401 early yesterday. Three, including the driver, were wearing seat belts: Two were unscathed; one suffered minor injuries. The four without belts were thrown from the vehicle as it spun, rolled, and slid across four lanes of traffic on its roof. All four were critically injured, and two had to be revived en route to hospital.
"I'm really frustrated," said Ontario Provincial Police Constable Dave Woodford, who was called to the scene just after midnight. High speed played a key role in the crash, according to police. The van's 20-year-old driver was arrested at the scene and charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. Police said there was no sign that alcohol was involved in the accident.
The young men in the van, all from Toronto's Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood, had apparently spent the evening visiting friends in Mississauga. The crash happened as the van zoomed east on the 401 near Avenue Road in Toronto. The outcome might have been even worse if it hadn't been for the arrival of a Canadian Armed Forces medic who happened to see the accident as he drove west.
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The medic, who was not named because he is a witness in the criminal case, stopped his car, grabbed his fire extinguisher, and ran to the wrecked van, which was starting to burn. The medic put out the flames and helped get the passengers out.
Although mandatory seat-belt laws across the country prompt nine in 10 Canadians to buckle up when travelling in a motor vehicle, police and transportation experts say the holdouts present a life-or-death public-safety challenge.
Louis Francescutti, a University of Alberta injury researcher and an emergency physician, said there might be a public perception that it's mainly young people who resist wearing seat belts, but in fact it's a problem that "cuts across the entire spectrum."
He said it's time for Canadians who refuse to buckle up to pay the price, either by being slapped with stiffer penalties such as a $1,000 fine or by paying the hospital bill if they are injured in a collision.
Dr. Francescutti knows the idea is controversial, but argues that is fair considering the cost of collisions involving people not wearing seat belts. "We have to transfer the irresponsibility back onto the individual who chooses not to use them," he said.
In Ontario, where about one third of all drivers and passengers killed in motor-vehicle collisions are not wearing seat belts, the penalty for seat-belt infractions is a fine of between $110 and $500. A driver can also receive two demerit points.
Despite tough enforcement, Dr. Francescutti believes Canadians still don't take the problem seriously enough. "Society is not getting the message that motor-vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for Canadians under the age of 34."
Dr. Francescutti said there needs to be major "cultural readjustment" when it comes to seat belts. He noted that police are often berated by drivers when they hand out tickets for not buckling up. "There is no will within society, and there is even less will amongst politicians." According to the most recent research by Transport Canada, an estimated 90.5 per cent of all occupants of light-duty vehicles in Canada used seat belts. The Northwest Territories had the lowest rate of seat-belt usage. The research, which was published in 2006, found that only about 75.1 per cent of the territory's residents were buckling up. Saskatchewan had the highest rate at 93.7 per cent.
Constable Woodford said he is frustrated and upset after returning from crash sites like the one in Toronto yesterday. Although police are constantly educating people about the risks of driving without belts, drivers and passengers come up with countless excuses when caught. He believes tougher penalties might help persuade people to take the law more seriously.
He is still surprised that younger people don't "automatically" belt up, considering most were not even alive when wearing seat belts was not mandatory. In Ontario, the law was enacted in 1976.