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Seat belt use at all-time high

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Seat belt use in the United States reached an all-time high of 75 percent this year, a new survey shows.

The survey, conducted in early June by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found that seat belt use increased by 2 percentage points or about 6 million people.

That translates to about 500 more lives per year that will be saved on the nation's highways, according the NHTSA

"Though we can't rest until seat belt use is 100 percent in this country," said NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge, "I am nevertheless pleased that we've reached another milestone."

The NHTSA credits the passage and enforcement of primary seat belt laws for the increase. In states with primary laws, seat belt usage is 80 percent, the agency said.

Primary seat belt laws allow law enforcement officers to stop and ticket drivers simply for not wearing their seat belts. In states with secondary laws, a driver must commit a moving violation before an officer can issue a ticket for failure to use a seat belt.

"More and more people are realizing that seat belts are absolutely the most effective safety device in a car," Runge said.

Runge said the agency hopes to raise the percentage of seat belt users to 78 percent by 2003.

The survey, known as the National Occupant Protection Use Survey, records both seat belt use for cars and helmet use for motorcycles.

It is a large-scale observational study conducted periodically to support occupant protection programs at the agency.

The largest gain in seat belt use was in the Northeast, historically the lowest region for belt use. Between 2001 and 2002, seat belt use in the Northeast increased by 8 percentage points. However, the region still ranks last for overall belt use at 69 percent.

The West continues to rank highest, with 79 percent seat belt use, followed by the South at 76 percent and the Midwest at 74 percent.

Pickup-truck occupants still have the lowest belt use among vehicle types at 65 percent. That is an increase of 3 percentage points from the previous year. Sport utility vehicles and van occupants jumped 4 percentage points to 79 percent usage.



 
 
 
 


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