More Seat Belt Use, Fewer Car Crash Injuries
Oregon Most Buckled-Up State, North Dakota Least Secured
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Jan. 4, 2011 -- State laws that fine motorists and passengers who don't buckle up increase seat belt use and cut car crash injury rates, a CDC study finds.

Overall, six out of seven Americans say they always wear a seat belt when they're in a motor vehicle.

"Wearing a seat belt on every trip has become the norm in America, and that is related to a steady fall in deaths from motor vehicle crashes," CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, said at a news teleconference.

In "click-it or ticket" states -- states that allow police to stop cars and ticket motorists for failure to use seat belts -- 88% of people say they always wear their seat belts when in a vehicle.

At the top of the list is Oregon, where nearly 94% of residents report always using seat belts.

But 18 states only give tickets for not wearing seat belts when a car is stopped for some other violation. In these states -- including New Hampshire, where there is no seat belt law -- only 79% of residents say they always wear their seat belts.

At the bottom of the list is North Dakota, where only about 59% of residents report always using seat belts.

Why wear seat belts? Data show that when there's a car crash, people wearing seat belts are about half as likely to be seriously injured, and about 45% less likely to die.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2009 data, if all states had strict "click-it or ticket" laws:

    * 450 lives would have been saved.
    * 12,000 nonfatal injuries would have been prevented.
    * $1.6 billion in societal costs would have been saved.

Even though more Americans than ever are wearing their seat belts, rates of consistent seat belt use are much higher in Europe.

"The U.S. traffic fatality rate is far higher than in Europe, where people drive just as fast and drink just as much as we do," Frieden said.

Men, young adults, and people who live in rural areas are less likely to wear seat belts than are other Americans.
Seat Belt Use: Best States, Worst States

States in which police can stop a car solely because seat belts are not being used have "primary enforcement laws." States in which police can only give a seat belt ticket if the car is stopped for some other violation have "secondary enforcement laws."

New Hampshire is the only state with no seat belt law. Since the CDC compiled these statistics in 2008, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have passed primary enforcement laws.

The table shows the percentage of state residents who in 2008 reported "always" wearing a seat belt whenever they are in a motor vehicle.

 

State/Territory
   

%

Primary Enforcement Law in 2008

Oregon
   

93.7

California
   

93.2

Washington
   

92.0

Hawaii
   

91.4

Texas
   

91.1

Puerto Rico
   

91.1

New Jersey
   

90.3

New Mexico
   

89.9

Maryland
   

89.6

Louisiana
   

89.2

Delaware
   

89.0

District of Columbia
   

88.7

Michigan
   

88.5

North Carolina
   

88.3

New York
   

86.2

Connecticut
   

86.0

Georgia
   

85.3

Alabama
   

85.2

Tennessee
   

84.7

Illinois
   

84.5

Guam
   

84.5

Iowa
   

84.4

Oklahoma
   

82.3

South Carolina
   

82.1

Indiana
   

81.8

Maine
   

81.6

Alaska
   

81.0

Virgin Islands
   

80.1

Kentucky
   

79.9

Mississippi
   

76.4

Subtotal
   

88.2

Secondary or no enforcement law

Florida
   

86.3

Nevada
   

85.8

Virginia
   

84.0

Arizona
   

83.1

Colorado
   

82.3

Vermont
   

81.9

Minnesota
   

81.7

Rhode Island
   

80.7

Massachusetts
   

80.4

Utah
   

79.7

West Virginia
   

79.4

Ohio
   

79.1

Idaho
   

76.6

Pennsylvania
   

74.7

Kansas
   

74.2

Missouri
   

73.1

Wisconsin
   

72.9

Arkansas
   

70.7

Nebraska
   

70.2

Montana
   

69.4

Wyoming
   

67.4

New Hampshire
   

66.4

South Dakota
   

59.7

North Dakota
   

59.2

Subtotal
   

79.2

Overall
   

85.0