[grecy]

Aren't there a lot of states where back seat passengers don't have to wear seat belts, and people can ride in the back of pick-ups etc.

Obviously road and car quality are up for debate, but once you spend some time driving around Europe in European cars, you'll see what I mean.

[tptacek]

For every 1 passenger killed in the US, almost 3 drivers are killed. Given that the mean occupancy per car in the US is something between 1.3 and 1.7, it seems very unlikely that back seat restraints are a significant contributor to these statistics.

[grecy]

It's exactly that kind of thinking that explains why road deaths in the US are high (the original topic of this thread).

Whenever a stat says something interesting that could be improved about America, it seems Americans find a way of dismissing the data as "not really appropriate for reasons x,y,z", thus leaving the original problem unimproved.

[tptacek]

I'm sorry, 'grecy, I've been dismissive of you in this thread, but I simply don't understand what you're trying to say here. It is evident from the statistics that lack of mandatory rear passenger seat belts are probably not a significant cause of death in the US.

If you're just trying to make a case that we should mandate rear passenger seatbelts, I'm not arguing with you. I'm talking about life expectancy stats.