Why Safety Belts? Experts say Princess Diana would have lived had she been wearing a seat belt. The same holds true for countless others who die needlessly in car accidents every day. In the Highway Patrol findings, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for every age from 5-32. In 1997, 70,676 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes and approximately 5 million were injured. To understand the value of a safety belt, it is important to understand some of the dynamics of a crash. Every motor vehicle crash is comprised of three collisions, and also many outside forces can contribute to car accidents. The first part is known as the car's collision, which causes th