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SALT LAKE CITY — Did you remember to buckle up?
Uber is launching a new feature this week that will send app alerts to its rideshare customers at the start of a new ride, reminding them to wear a seat belt during the ride. There will also be a "distinctive chime" from the driver's phone that will remind passengers to buckle up the moment they get inside a vehicle, company officials said Tuesday.
Riders will continue to receive seat belt alerts for their next five trips and then "periodically thereafter," according to Uber. The decision to add the feature came from a review of statistics and feedback from Uber drivers, the California-based company added.
"Buckling up is one of the most effective ways to help keep yourself and others in the vehicle safe in a crash," said Kristin Smith, the head of global road safety policy for Uber, in a statement. "By leveraging technology to remind riders to buckle up, we hope to increase seat belt use and potentially save lives."
Most Uber passengers ride in the back seat, so the feature may not be a major change for many Utahns. The Beehive State is only one of 21 states that do have primary laws that enforce the use of rear seat belts, according to the national roadway safety coalition Advocates For Highway and Auto Safety.
That said, both Utah and U.S. traffic experts say they are concerned about recent seat belt trends. Utah Department of Public Safety officials have said seat belt use in Utah dropped to 88% in 2021, a five-year low in the state.
While that means most Utahns are still wearing seat belts, more than one in 10 Utahns don't. The agency found that 74 deaths on Utah roads last year involved someone who was not restrained, which accounted for about one in four 2021 roadway deaths.
"That is such a no-brainer. The one thing every single one of us can do as soon as we get into a vehicle," said Utah Highway Patrol Col. Michael Rapich, during a press briefing about 2021 Utah traffic trends held last month.
Utah's seat belt usage rate also fell below the national average last year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the national seat belt rate was 90.4% in 2021. That's still way too low for federal safety experts.
During the Advocates For Highway and Auto Safety's annual safety report media briefing on Jan. 18, Alan Maness, the vice president of federal affairs and counsel for the insurance giant State Farm, said upwards of 2,000 Americans who die every year in traffic crashes would be alive if they wore seat belts.
And people in the back seat of a vehicle are more likely to forget. One survey in the 2022 Advocates For Highway and Auto Safety report found that about 40% of people said they don't always wear a seat belt in the back seat of a vehicle.
Jonathan Adkins, the executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said in a statement Tuesday that this trend is even more common in rideshare vehicles "even though the simple act of buckling up can save your life in the event of a crash."
That's a mindset Uber officials say they are trying to change with their new alert feature.
So when you hail your next ride, expect an extra alert and don't forget to buckle up.
