Click It or Ticket: Seat Belt Use

I saw in my local paper that the Click It or Ticket campaign is under way this week so I thought I’d post some information about seat belt use.  Thankfully, according to a National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration 2010 survey, seat belt use has been increasing steadily since 1994, accom­panied by a steady decline in percent of unrestrained pas­senger vehicle occupant fatalities during daytime (see figure 2).   

The 2010 survey also found the following:

Seat belt use for occupants traveling during weekdays increased significantly from 83 percent in 2009 to 85 percent in 2010.

Seat belt use continued to be higher in the States in which vehicle occupants can be pulled over solely for not using seat belts (“primary law States”) as compared with the States with weaker enforcement laws (“secondary law States”) or without seat belt laws. (see figure 1)

Seat belt use for occupants in rural areas increased significantly from 81 percent in 2009 to 83 percent in 2010.

Seat belt use for occupants traveling on expressways increased significantly from 89 percent in 2009 to 91 percent in 2010.

Figure 1. 

States With Primary Enforcement Seat Belt Laws*
Alabama		Alaska	Arkansas	California
Connecticut		Delaware	District of Columbia	Florida
Georgia		Hawaii	Illinois	Indiana
Iowa		Kentucky	Louisiana	Maine
Maryland		Michigan	Minnesota	Mississippi
New Jersey		New Mexico	New York	North Carolina
Oklahoma		Oregon	South Carolina	Tennessee
Texas	Washington		Wisconsin
* States with laws in effect as of May 31, 2010. The District of Columbia is included in the table. Figure 2.

So what all this is saying is:  Buckle Up!