All fatal accidents which occurred in the Province of Saskatchewan during 1974 were reviewed to determine the potential benefits of universal seatbelt usage. Photos of most cars in which fatalities occurred were obtained and Vehicle Deformation Indexes were assigned. Predictions for safety belt effectiveness were made using injury prediction equations developed from the HSRI data bank. Of the 142 car occupants killed who had some form of restraint available, 70 percent would have been expected to survive if the restraints had been worn.

The survivability of accidents involving single vehicle rollovers, multi-cars, car/truck and car/train collisions tended to reflect the different amounts of passenger compartment intrusion generally associated with each of these accident configurations.