Final answer:
Individuals of all ages are generally required to wear seatbelts to minimize injuries during car accidents and reduce the burden on society. Seatbelts help to distribute the forces experienced during sudden stops, and laws are in place to enforce their use.
Step-by-step explanation:
The age at which a person in a vehicle must wear a seatbelt varies depending on the laws of the country or state. However, it is generally required for individuals of all ages to wear seatbelts when the vehicle is in motion. For example, children may need to be in a car seat or a booster seat depending on their age and size, and once they are large enough, they transition to using the regular seatbelt. The enforcement of seatbelt laws is meant to protect not only the individuals in the vehicles but also the society at large by minimizing injuries and deaths caused by vehicle accidents, which in turn can reduce the burden on medical care systems and other social support systems.
Using a seatbelt can significantly reduce the risk of injury during a car accident as it helps to distribute the forces experienced by an occupant when there is a sudden stop. As seen in an example involving physics calculations, a person with a mass of 70.0 kg (approximately 154 lbs) in a car moving at 10.0 m/s (approximately 22 mph) that crashes and stops in 0.26 s would experience a tremendous force if not for the seatbelt, which helps to bring the passenger safely to a halt. The force exerted on the individual can be calculated using the formula Fnet = (mass × velocity) / time, demonstrating the importance of seatbelts during collisions.