Survey Shows Seat Belt Use Has Increased to Record 66%

A record number of Americans strapped on seat belts this year, a trend advocates attribute to tougher laws in some states, the Transportation Department reported Saturday.

The 1993 figure was 66%, an increase over 62% in 1992 and 59% in 1991, the first year the survey was done in the current format.

Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said the rise translates into 500 lives saved and more than 14,000 serious injuries avoided in 1993.

“Untold pain and suffering and more than $1 billion in health care and other costs to society also were avoided,” he said.

Pena said his goal is to get 75% of drivers and passengers to use seat belts by 1997.

He is scheduled to travel to North Carolina on Monday to highlight that state’s aggressive enforcement policy, known as “click it or ticket.”

Brian O’Neill, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said compliance in North Carolina is about 80%, due in part to a four-week campaign involving random checkpoints.

“The thing that makes the difference is the law and the extent to which that law is enforced,” O’Neill said.

He said part of the national increase also was due to an upgrade in California’s seat belt law that made it “primary,” meaning law enforcement officers could stop a motorist simply for failure to wear a seat belt.