CDC Study Finds Seat Belt Use Up to 85 Percent Nationally

Still, 1 in 7 adults do not wear a seat belt on every trip

Almost 6 out of 7 U.S. drivers surveyed report that they always wear a seat belt when driving or riding in a motor vehicle, according to a study recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seat belt use has become the national norm in most states, though rates of self-reported seat belt use vary widely from state to state, with a high of 94 percent (Oregon) and a low of 59 percent (North Dakota).

Still, every 14 seconds, an adult in the United States is treated in an emergency department for crash-related injuries.

The study found that states with primary seat belt enforcement laws, where police officers can pull cars over and issue tickets solely because drivers and passengers are unbelted, have higher rates of seat belt use than states with secondary enforcement laws, which only allow officers to issue tickets to drivers who have been pulled over for violating another law. States with primary enforcement laws had an overall seat belt use rate of 88 percent, whereas states with secondary enforcement laws had an overall seat belt use rate of 79 percent. The national average for seat belt use is 85 percent.

According to previous research by CDC and others, everyone is encouraged to take the following steps:

• Use a seat belt on every trip, no matter how short.
• Encourage everyone in the car to buckle up, including those in the back seat.
• Make sure children are properly buckled up in a seat belt, booster seat, or car seat, whichever is age- and size-appropriate.
• Have all children ages 12 and under sit in the back seat.

For more information about seat belts and motor vehicle safety, visit www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety and www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns.

Remember Loudoun County... buckle up!

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Crashes Remain Leading Cause of Death for Teenagers

The number of fatal crashes involving 16- and 17-year old drivers dropped by more than a third between 2004 and 2008, but this doesn't mean that parents and teens should be satisfied with the progress, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Crashes still remain the leading cause of death for teens in the United States, though most are preventable, the report says. Graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs, which help new drivers gain skills under low-risk conditions, are widely credited with contributing to the drop in deadly crashes involving teens, it says.

The report shows wide variations from state to state, with teens in some states more likely than teens in others to be involved in fatal crashes.

Nationally, the number of 16- and 17-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes decreased by 36 percent, from 2,230 in 2004 to 1,437 in 2008, said the study in CDC's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report."

The overall decline in young drivers' fatal crash involvement is an extension of a longer-term downward trend. Rates of fatal crash involvement for 16- and 17-year-old drivers have fallen by more than 50 percent since 1996 (from 36 per 100,000 persons in 1996 to 16.7 per 100,000 in 2008). Despite this downward trend, young drivers' fatal crash rates are still high in some areas of the country.

Read the complete CDC press release about the study.

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