Hollywood Gets Call To Buckle Up

In the movies, James Bond may be able to survive a fiery automobile crash unscathed without wearing a seat belt, but motorists in the real world wouldn't be so lucky. So the American Automobile Association (AAA) is calling on eight major movie studios and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to encourage better use of seat belts in movies.

AAA reviewed 40 first-run summer movie and video releases and found that seat belts were used only 18 percent of the time by front-seat passengers—61 instances out of 346 opportunities. Seat belts weren't used at all in 16 of the movies AAA reviewed. No movie had a perfect score.

"Movies are an influential part of our culture and play an important role in setting social norms. The entertainment industry should exceed the national averages on such important issues as seat belt use," said Mark Edwards, AAA's managing director of Traffic Safety. "This is an opportunity to positively influence movie-goers and to save lives."

Nationally, 60 percent of motorists use seat belts. President Clinton has set a goal to increase seat belt use to 85 percent by the year 2000.

AAA's request for better seat belt use in movies was outlined in a recent letter to senior executives from Paramount Pictures, MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, Trimark Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Brothers and the MPAA.

"We are not asking studios to potentially degrade movie plots," said Edwards. "We are merely asking that their characters wear seat belts."