Seat belt safety

Seat belts

Although safety belt use in Wisconsin had 79 percent of drivers and passengers buckling up in 2011, it still lags behind the 84 percent national average for safety belt use.
Wisconsin is also behind neighboring states including Michigan and Illinois, which have safety belt use rates of more than 90 percent.

Consistent safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people from being ejected from a vehicle or being thrown around violently inside it during a crash.
In Wisconsin, a 10 percent increase in safety belt use would save about 44 lives and prevent 650 injuries each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Teen safety belt use is much lower than other age groups. This lack of safety belt use coupled with a lack of driving experience is a major reason why traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for young people nationwide.

Drivers and passengers who are hurt or killed in traffic crashes because they didn't buckle up create tremendous economic losses, such as medical expenses and lost worker productivity. The rest of society pays for nearly 75 percent of these economic losses through higher insurance premiums, taxes, and other public funding, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Each Wisconsin traffic fatality costs more than $1.3 million and each incapacitating injury nearly $70,000 based on National Safety Council estimates. In 2009, economic losses from traffic fatalities and injuries in Wisconsin cost nearly $2 billion, according to the 2009 Wisconsin Traffic Crash Facts.

Photo on this page courtesy of AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Driver wearing his safety belt

Related information:

Child safety seats

Crash facts - Safety equipment and seat belt use