Posted on September 28, 2021
NEWINGTON – At DOT Headquarters on Monday, State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) along with Governor Ned Lamont, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) Office of Highway Safety, Jennifer Homendy, newly-appointed of the Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and AAA announced that beginning Friday, October 1, 2021, a new Connecticut law will require all passengers, including those in the back seats, to buckle up. The legislation enacting the new law passed the Connecticut House and Senate in June and was signed by the governor in July.
Prior Connecticut back-seat occupant protection regulations only required rear-seat passengers under 16 to buckle-up, even though proper restraint saves lives at any age. The revised law is expanded to include all passengers.
Between 2017 and 2020, there were more than 12,589 injuries of rear seat occupants in Connecticut. During this same period, there were 61 fatalities.
According to data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) unbelted rear seat passengers are 3 times more likely to die than those who are buckled at the time of a serious impact.
Rep. Bolinsky has spent years securing legislative support for this and other lifesaving, car safety measures to ensure final passage in the state legislature. Over the years, many experts have testified in support of this legislative initiative. In 2017, Newtown’s Dr. Neil Chaudhary, CEO & Traffic Safety Consultant of the Pressure Group, was Rep Bolinsky’s guest and expert witness, providing research data on the impact of passengers not wearing seat belts in the back seat of a motor vehicle. Dr. Chaudhary was present at today’s press conference.
Below are Rep. Bolinsky remarks:
Today is a great day! By updating our state’s motor vehicle statutes to include rear seat belt use, along with existing front-seat safety-belt requirements, Connecticut makes a statement about how we value every life, its potential and all it can be.
We’ve heard the term “follow the Science” a lot lately. Well, years of automotive safety research has shown us that, in serious car crashes, unrestrained rear-seat occupants experience something called the “human collision”, in which they’re tossed around the vehicle. They become “human-missiles”. Many are thrown into the driver or other passengers, causing serious injuries or avoidable fatalities. Some are ejected, resulting in almost certain death. According to National Highway Traffic Association data, unbelted rear seat occupants are 3-times more likely to perish than buckled ones and even buckled front-seat passengers are 20% more likely to be fatally injured by unbuckled, airborne rear seat riders.
This new law will save countless lives and I am so grateful to Governor Lamont, DOT and its Commissioner Joe Giuleitti, the legislature’s Transportation Committee Leadership, including Rep. Lamar, Senator Haskell, Rep. Carney and Senator Somers for their support in making this life-saving effort a reality.
And certainly, to the scientists and advocates who have enlightened, enabled and urged us to cross the finish line with their research, persuasion and caring…Thank YOU to AAA, the National Highway Traffic Association, the Insurance Institutes for Highway Safety, the National Safety Council and independent safety researchers like the Pressure Group. Again… Thank You!”