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Sir, "obviously off the wall" is something that can easily be refuted. Which specific statistics do you object to? Please allow me to, with respect to you major objection, respond. Your other contention I can not address, as I believe that the laws in existence are a result of a vindictive, retribution, hate organization (and who really can blame these people for their emotions?). I've wrestled with the issue for several years, and believe that its more "knee jerk" response (albeit pragmatic), rather than a solution that addresses the core of the problem. The core of the issue is that alchohol and other intoxicants have become a pivotal and fundamental part of our society. All of that was explained to me during my Alchohol Awareness programs that I was legally required to attend a few years ago.

The US Department of Transportation estimates that the typical driver will have a near automobile accident one to two times per month and all will be in a collision of some type on average every 6 years. According to the National Safety Council (NSA), there are more than 12 million motor vehicle accidents annually that involve more than 20 million vehicles. Of these accidents, about 6.4 million are nonfatal, over 2 million are injurious and about 4.3 million are property damage only. The following charts are from the NHTSA:

Chart 6 Occupant Fatalities in 2002
By Age and Restraint Use, In Passenger Vehicles

Age Group	Restrained	Percent Restrained	Unrestrained	Percent Unrestrained	Total	Total Percent
0-4	274	59.6%	185	40.4%	459	100%
5-9	205	51.4%	195	48.6%	400	100%
10-15	350	37.7%	576	62.3%	926	100%
16-20	1,999	35.5%	3,626	64.5%	5,625	100%
21-24	1,199	32.6%	2,477	67.4%	3,676	100%
25-44	3,232	32.7%	6,656	67.3%	9,888	100%
45-64	2,947	46.8%	3,353	53.2%	6,300	100%
65-74	1,253	58.5%	887	41.5%	2,140	100%
75+	1,983	63.9%	1,122	36.1%	3,105	100%
TOTAL	13,448	41.4%	19,071	58.6%	32,519	100%

Chart 7 Occupants Killed or Injured In 2002
By Injury Severity, In Passenger Vehicles

	Injury Severity
Age Group	Killed	Incapacitating*	Non- incapacitating	Possible Injury	Injury Severity Unknown	Total Injured	Total
0-4	459	6,588	15,552	35,602	783	58,525	58,984
5-9	400	7,038	21,087	42,822	758	71,705	72,105
10-15	926	12,569	34,745	74,536	1,062	122,912	123,838
16-20	5,625	56,053	149,645	266,200	4,167	476,065	481,690
21-24	3,676	35,973	89,255	166,995	3,302	295,525	299,201
25-44	9,888	99,504	227,077	595,110	7,912	929,603	939,491
45-64	6,300	57,286	118,747	343,343	3,711	523,087	529,387
65-74	2,140	13,343	32,042	65,376	391	111,152	113,292
75+	3,105	14,604	28,096	49,983	422	93,105	96,210
TOTAL	32,519	302,957	716,246	1,639,968	22,507	2,681,678	2,714,197

*An incapacitating injury is any injury, other than a fatal injury, that prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of performing before the injury occurred.

It should be noted that 4,563,000 cases were reported by emergency departments to the CDC classified as "autmobile injury" in 2000.

According to Federal Highway Administration statistics for 2000:

	Fatal Crash Occupant Statistics by Restraint Use
restraint use	Survived	Percent	Killed	Percent	Total	Percent
yes	31,328	73%	11,622	27%	42,950	52.4%
no	13,985	44%	17,672	56%	31,657	38.6%
unknown	4,742	64%	2,616	36%	7,358	8.9%
TOTAL	50,055	60.3%	31910	39.6%	81965	100%

	Vehicle Occupant Statistics by Restraint Use
restraint use	Uninjured	Percent	Injured	Percent	Total	Percent
yes	2,114,000	47%	2,351,000	53%	4,465,000	81.4%
no	152,000	30%	359,000	70%	511,000	9.3%
unknown	311,000	61%	199,000	39%	511,000	9.3%
TOTAL	2,577,000	46%	25503559	54%	5487000	100%

Given that there are an estimated 296 million people in the U.S.A., according to the above statistics, the probability for any person in the U.S.A. to be an occupant of an automobile accident by random chance in any arbitrary year would be 5487000/296000000 (or 98.1463% against). However, over the course of 80 years, random chance suggests 77.62% chance for the event to occur at least once during that time. The above data (2351000/5487000) shows there's a 57.15% chance against those involved in an accident and wearing a seat belt from being injured. So the risk to the any member of the population at large amounts to 1.853 * 42.85 (or 99.2% against). However, over the course of 80 years, random chance suggests 57.35% for that event to occur. And finally, the probability that, by chance, one will be injured in an automobile accident (while wearing a seat belt), and the injuries being fatal amounts to (11622/3191) * 42.85 * 1.853 (or 10723:1 against). However, over the course of 80 years, this becomes almost a 1% certainty.

Perhaps my statement of virtual certainty of an injurious accident during one's driving career was a bit over-zealous, in that the great likelyhood exists within one's lifetime. However, I rest on my original, and subsequent (this) posting that the preponderance of chance is precisely what I stated, and that furthermore, the likelyhood of injury (based on the statistics for unrestrained motor vehicle occupants) much greater. I'll concede that the statistics presented appear to show a higher incidence (compare incidence w/ prevalance) of injury, but what would the fatality statistics be if but for the restraints?