Low Seat Belt Use among Texas Police Biggest Cause of Accident Deaths-Houston Personal Injury Lawyers
More police officers in Texas are killed every year from failure to wear seat belts than in encounters with felons. In spite of those statistics, seat belt usage among cops in Texas is very low, and contributes to large number of deaths in motorcycle and patrol car crashes every year.
The Houston Chronicle has a report on the low seat belt use among our police officers, and a culture that officers insist, is not conducive to seat belt use. Most police officers who fail to buckle up when they are in their cars insist that the seat belts can be a hindrance when they have to get out of the car in a hurry to pursue a suspect. Others say the seat belt can get tangled in the holster. In any case, the culture of not buckling up is widespread, and it is a huge factor in the number of police officers in Texas killed on the job every year.
Over the past three years alone, we lost 16 police officers in Texas to shootings by felons. In comparison, the number of police officers killed in motorcycle and car accidents was 18. However, the widespread misconception is that the biggest danger facing Texas police is from criminals. As those statistics show, its failure to wear seat belts that places a Texas police officer’s life at major risk.
The Houston Police Department insists that in the 752 accidents involving police officers last year, all officers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. However in Harris County, out of the 392 officer-related car accidents that occurred last year, only 18 of the officers involved were wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. We have no way of knowing whether those statistics are true, because seat belt use by officers is self reported, and there are no checks in place to make sure that they are buckling up.
Houston accident lawyers see some good news in this dismal scene. There is movement towards the development of technological aids like seat belts that would automatically unlatch when the car is in park mode, allowing a police officer to jump out of his car without wasting time fumbling with the seat belt.
This much is clear to Houston injury lawyers – in order to be able to enforce seat belt usage in the state of Texas, officers need to set an example, and for that, they need to buckle up at all times.
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident or injury, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm today.
Call 713-226-9900 or toll free 1-877-226-9940 or fill out our “Get Help Now” form to schedule a meeting with a caring and experienced personal injury lawyer at our offices in downtown Houston. The case evaluation is free and we will not charge you attorneys fees on injury cases unless we secure a verdict or settlement for you.
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