Safety Belt Use Of the 31,904 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2003, 56 percent were not wearing a safety belt. [NHTSA, Annual Assessment of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2003]
Among passenger vehicle occupants over 4 years old, safety belts saved an estimated 14,903 lives in 2003. If ALL passenger vehicle occupants over age 4 wore safety belts, 20,984 lives (that is, an additional 6,081) could have been saved in 2003. [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts Occupant Protection, 2003]
Each percentage-point increase in safety belt use represents 2.8 million more people buckling up, approximately 270 more lives saved, and 4,000 injuries prevented annually, NHTSA estimates. [NHTSA, FY2003 Performance Plan, 2002]
Safety belt use has increased significantly in the past few years, but more must be done. Safety belt use in the United States rose to 80 percent in 2004 from 58 percent in 1994. [NHTSA, Technical Report, Safety Belt Use in 2004 - Overall Results, September 2004]
Restraint Effectiveness Seventy-three percent of passenger vehicle occupants involved in a fatal crash in 2003 and were restrained survived; of those who were not restrained, only 42 percent survived. [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, 2003]
In fatal crashes, 74 percent of all passenger vehicle occupants who were totally ejected were killed. Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejections: only 1 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants reported to have been using restraints in fatal crashes were totally ejected, compared with 29 percent of the unrestrained occupants. [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts Overview, 2003]
Safety Belts Save Lives And Money Between 1975 and 2000, safety belts prevented 135,000 fatalities and 3.8 million injuries, saving $585 billion in medical and other costs. If all vehicle occupants had used safety belts during that period, nearly 315,000 deaths and 5.2 million injuries could have been prevented - and $913 billion in costs saved. [NHTSA, Economic Impact of Crashes, 2002]
In 2000, the deaths and serious injuries prevented by safety belts resulted in savings of $50 billion in medical care, lost productivity and other injury-related costs. [NHTSA, Economic Impact of Crashes, 2002]
Motor vehicle crashes in 2000 cost a total of $230.6 billion, an amount equal to 2.3 percent of the gross domestic product, or $820 for every person living in the United States . [NHTSA, Economic Impact of Crashes, 2002]
In 2000, the economic cost to society was more than $977,000 for each crash fatality and an average of $1.1 million for each critically injured person. [NHTSA, Economic Impact of Crashes, 2002]
The general public pays nearly three-quarters of all crash costs, primarily through insurance premiums, taxes, delays, and lost productivity. [NHTSA, Economic Impact of Crashes, 2002]
Adults Under 35 And Teens In 2003, 59 percent of all 18- to 34-year-old passenger vehicle occupants who were killed in crashes were not wearing safety belts. By comparison, among vehicle occupants 35 and older who were killed in crashes, 46 percent were not buckled up. [NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2003 Annual Report File (ARF)]
In 2003, 62 percent of the 18- to 34-year-old male passenger vehicle occupants who were killed in crashes were not wearing safety belts. Fifty-two percent of the women 18 to 34 who were killed in crashes were not buckled up. [NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2003 Annual Report File (ARF)]
In 2002, when ranked by specific age, motor vehicle traffic crashes were the leading cause of death for every age 3 through 33. [NHTSA, Research Note, Motor Vehicle Crashes as a Leading Cause of Death in the United States , 2002, January 2005]
In 2003, 57 percent of 16- to 20-year-old passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes were not wearing a safety belt. [NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2003 Annual Report File (ARF)]
In 2002, the economic cost of police-reported crashes involving drivers 15 to 20 was about $40.8 billion. [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts 2002 -Young Drivers]
Male teens continue to lag behind female teens in safety belt use. In 2001, 18.1 percent of high school males said they rarely or never wore a safety belt as a passenger, compared with 10.2 percent of high school females. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2001]
Ninety-five percent of drivers 16 to 20 said they buckle up to avoid serious injury. Eighty-four percent said they use safety belts because it's the law, and 80 percent do so to avoid a ticket. [NHTSA, Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey, 2003]
Diverse Populations Safety belt use among African Americans rose to 77 percent - increasing to essentially the same level as that of the general population - in 2002, from 69 percent in 2000. More than a quarter of African Americans who did not use safety belts in 2000 used them in 2002. [NHTSA, National Occupant Protection Use Survey, June 2002]
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African Americans from birth through age 14 and are the second-leading cause of death for African Americans 15 to 24 years old. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 1998]
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Hispanics age 1 to 34 and the third-leading cause of death for all Hispanics, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2000]
In 2001, 16.1 percent of African American teens said they rarely or never used a safety belt as a passenger, compared with 13.6 percent of white teens and 14.5 percent of Hispanic teens. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2001]
Even though African American and Hispanic male teens drive fewer miles than white male teens, they are twice as likely as whites to die in a crash. [Archives Of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 1998]
Rural Areas And Pickups Safety belt use in rural areas was 76 percent in 2004, slightly below the 80 percent national average for 2004, and 74 percent in 2003, slightly below the 79 percent national average in 2003. [NHTSA, National Occupant Protection Use Surveys, June 2004 and 2003]
Safety belt use by pickup truck occupants is about 70 percent, among the lowest for any demographic group. [NHTSA, Technical Report, Safety Belt Use in 2004 - Overall Results, DOT HS 809 783, September 2004]
Safety Belt Laws There are two types of safety belt laws: primary and secondary. A primary law allows law enforcement officers to write a ticket if they simply observe an unbelted driver or passenger. Under a secondary law, an officer cannot ticket anyone for a safety belt violation unless the motorist is stopped for another infraction. Primary laws are very effective in increasing safety belt use. In 2004, belt use in States with primary laws was 84 percent, compared with 73 percent in States without primary laws. [NHTSA, Technical Report, Safety Belt Use in 2004 - Overall Results, September 2004]
Teen safety belt use is significantly higher in States with primary safety belt laws than in States with secondary laws. [National Safety Council, Teenage Safety Belt Use, 2002]
As of March 2005, 21 states, Puerto Rico, Guam , American Samoa , the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the District of Columbia had primary safety belt laws. The primary-law States are Alabama , California , Connecticut , Delaware , Georgia , Hawaii , Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Louisiana , Maryland , Michigan , New Jersey , New Mexico , New York , North Carolina , Oklahoma , Oregon , Tennessee , Texas and Washington . New Hampshire is the only State that has no adult safety belt law.
High-Visibility Enforcement The Click It or Ticket model uses advertising, earned media and high-visibility law enforcement to increase safety belt and child safety seat use. Click It or Ticket programs have successfully sustained increases in restraint use at the community, State and regional levels. [NHTSA, Evaluation of Click It or Ticket Model Programs, 2002]
In May 2002, 10 States that implemented full-scale Click It or Ticket campaigns increased safety belt use overall by 8.6 percentage points, to 77.1 percent. The States used paid and earned media and Statewide law enforcement for four weeks. But in States that increased enforcement without publicizing the effort through paid media, belt use rose an average of only half a percentage point. [NHTSA, Evaluation of Click It or Ticket Model Programs, 2002]
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