Seat belt use rates in the United States have been rising steadily since 1983, from 14% to 90% in 2016. Seat belt use in the country in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 70.2% in New Hampshire to a maximum of 96.9% in Georgia. 19 states had use rates above 90%. [1]
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) 2008 survey, seat belt use remained lower among 16- to 24-year-olds than other age groups, with a rate of 77%, and also was lower among African Americans than other races, with a use rate of 75%. The survey also found that seat belt use continued to be higher among females (86%) than males (79%). [2]
According to the NHTSA's 2013 survey, seat belt use in jurisdictions with stronger seatbelt enforcement laws continue to exhibit generally higher use rates than those with weaker laws. [3]
Seat belt usage by year
The following list shows the national percentage of vehicle occupants using seat belts between 1983 and 2017:
| Historical seat belt use in the United States 1983-2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | % | Year | % | Year | % |
| 2017 | 89.7 [4] | 2005 | 82 [5] | 1993 | 66[ citation needed] |
| 2016 | 90.1 [4] | 2004 | 80 [5] | 1992 | 62[ citation needed] |
| 2015 | 88.5 [4] | 2003 | 79 [5] | 1991 | 59[ citation needed] |
| 2014 | 86.7 [1] | 2002 | 75 [5] | 1990 | 49[ citation needed] |
| 2013 | 87 [3] | 2001 | 73 [5] | 1989 | 46[ citation needed] |
| 2012 | 86 [6] | 2000 | 71 [5] | 1988 | 45[ citation needed] |
| 2011 | 84 [7] | 1999 | 67 [5] | 1987 | 42[ citation needed] |
| 2010 | 85 [8] | 1998 | 65 [5] | 1986 | 37[ citation needed] |
| 2009 | 84 [9] | 1997 | 69[ citation needed] | 1985 | 21[ citation needed] |
| 2008 | 83 [2] | 1996 | 61 [5] | 1984 | 14[ citation needed] |
| 2007 | 82 [2] | 1995 | 68[ citation needed] | 1983 | 14[ citation needed] |
| 2006 | 81 [5] | 1994 | 58 [5] | ||
The only years in which the rate did not increase over the previous year were 1994 when usage fell by eight percent, 1996 when usage fell by seven percent, 2006 when usage fell by one percent, and 2017 when usage fell by four tenths of one percent. [5] [4]
Seat belt usage by state/territory
| STATE | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 77.40 | 80.00 | 81.80 | 82.90 | 82.30 | 86.10 | 90.00 | 91.40 | 88.00 | 88.9 | 97.3 |
| Alaska | 78.90 | 76.70 | 78.40 | 83.20 | 82.40 | 84.90 | 86.10 | 86.80 | 89.30 | 88.1 | 86.1 |
| Arizona | 86.20 | 95.30 | 94.20 | 78.90 | 80.90 | 79.90 | 80.80 | 81.80 | 82.90 | 82.2 | 84.7 |
| Arkansas | 62.80 | 64.20 | 68.30 | 69.30 | 69.90 | 70.40 | 74.40 | 78.30 | 78.40 | 71.9 | 76.7 |
| California | 91.20 | 90.40 | 92.50 | 93.40 | 94.60 | 95.70 | 95.30 | 96.20 | 96.60 | 95.5 | 97.4 |
| Colorado | 77.70 | 79.30 | 79.20 | 80.30 | 81.10 | 81.70 | 81.10 | 82.90 | 82.10 | 80.7 | 82.1 |
| Connecticut | 78.00 | 82.90 | 81.60 | 83.50 | 85.80 | 88.00 | 85.90 | 88.20 | 88.40 | 86.8 | 86.6 |
| Delaware | 74.90 | 82.30 | 83.80 | 86.10 | 86.60 | 91.30 | 88.40 | 90.70 | 90.30 | 87.9 | 92.2 |
| District of Columbia | 84.90 | 87.10 | 88.80 | 85.40 | 87.10 | 90.00 | 93.00 | 92.30 | 95.20 | 92.4 | 87.5 |
| Florida | 72.60 | 76.30 | 73.90 | 80.70 | 79.10 | 81.70 | 85.20 | 87.40 | 88.10 | 87.4 | 87.2 |
| Georgia | 84.50 | 86.70 | 89.90 | 90.00 | 89.00 | 89.60 | 88.90 | 89.60 | 93.00 | 93.4 | 95.5 |
| Hawaii | 91.80 | 95.10 | 95.30 | 92.50 | 97.60 | 97.00 | 97.90 | 97.60 | 96.00 | 93.4 | 94.0 |
| Idaho | 71.70 | 74.00 | 76.00 | 79.80 | 78.50 | 76.90 | 79.20 | 77.90 | 79.10 | 79.0 | 81.6 |
| Illinois | 80.10 | 83.00 | 86.00 | 87.80 | 90.10 | 90.50 | 91.70 | 92.60 | 92.90 | 93.6 | 93.7 |
| Indiana | 82.30 | 83.40 | 81.20 | 84.30 | 87.90 | 91.20 | 92.60 | 92.40 | 93.20 | 93.6 | 91.6 |
| Iowa | 86.80 | 86.40 | 87.10 | 89.60 | 91.30 | 92.90 | 93.10 | 93.10 | 93.50 | 93.6 | 91.9 |
| Kansas | 63.60 | 68.30 | 69.00 | 73.50 | 75.00 | 77.40 | 77.00 | 81.80 | 82.90 | 79.5 | 80.7 |
| Kentucky | 65.50 | 66.00 | 66.70 | 67.20 | 71.80 | 73.30 | 79.70 | 80.30 | 82.20 | 83.7 | 85.0 |
| Louisiana | 73.80 | 75.00 | 77.70 | 74.80 | 75.20 | 75.50 | 74.50 | 75.90 | 77.70 | 79.3 | 82.5 |
| Maine | N/A | 72.30 | 75.80 | 77.20 | 79.80 | 83.00 | 82.60 | 82.00 | 81.60 | 84.4 | 83.0 |
| Maryland | 87.90 | 89.00 | 91.10 | 91.10 | 93.10 | 93.30 | 94.00 | 94.70 | 94.20 | 91.1 | 90.7 |
| Massachusetts | 61.70 | 63.30 | 64.80 | 66.90 | 68.70 | 66.80 | 73.60 | 73.70 | 73.20 | 72.7 | 74.8 |
| Michigan | 84.80 | 90.50 | 92.90 | 94.30 | 93.70 | 97.20 | 98.00 | 95.20 | 94.50 | 93.6 | 93.0 |
| Minnesota | 79.40 | 82.10 | 83.90 | 83.30 | 87.80 | 86.70 | 90.20 | 92.30 | 92.70 | 93.6 | 94.8 |
| Mississippi | 62.20 | 63.20 | 60.80 | 73.60 | 71.80 | 71.30 | 76.00 | 81.00 | 81.90 | 83.2 | 74.4 |
| Missouri | 72.90 | 75.90 | 77.40 | 75.20 | 77.20 | 75.80 | 77.20 | 76.00 | 79.00 | 79.4 | 80.1 |
| Montana | 79.50 | 80.90 | 80.00 | 79.00 | 79.60 | 79.30 | 79.20 | 78.90 | 76.90 | 76.3 | 74.0 |
| Nebraska | 76.10 | 79.20 | 79.20 | 76.00 | 78.70 | 82.60 | 84.80 | 84.10 | 84.20 | 78.6 | 79.1 |
| Nevada | 78.70 | 86.60 | 94.80 | 91.20 | 92.20 | 90.90 | 91.00 | 93.20 | 94.10 | 90.5 | 94.8 |
| New Hampshire | 49.60 | N/A | N/A | 63.50 | 63.80 | 69.20 | 68.90 | 72.20 | 75.00 | 68.6 | 73.0 |
| New Jersey | 81.20 | 82.00 | 86.00 | 90.00 | 91.40 | 91.80 | 92.70 | 93.70 | 94.50 | 88.3 | 91.0 |
| New Mexico | 87.20 | 89.70 | 89.50 | 89.60 | 91.50 | 91.10 | 90.10 | 89.80 | 90.50 | 91.4 | 92.0 |
| New York | 84.60 | 85.00 | 85.00 | 83.00 | 83.50 | 89.10 | 88.00 | 89.80 | 90.50 | 90.4 | 91.1 |
| North Carolina | 86.10 | 86.10 | 86.70 | 88.50 | 88.80 | 89.80 | 89.50 | 89.70 | 89.50 | 87.5 | 88.6 |
| North Dakota | 63.70 | 67.40 | 76.30 | 79.00 | 82.20 | 81.60 | 81.50 | 74.80 | 76.70 | 80.9 | 77.7 |
| Ohio | 74.70 | 74.10 | 78.70 | 81.70 | 81.60 | 82.70 | 83.60 | 83.80 | 84.10 | 82.0 | 84.5 |
| Oklahoma | 76.70 | 80.30 | 83.10 | 83.70 | 83.10 | 84.30 | 84.20 | 85.90 | 85.90 | 83.8 | 83.6 |
| Oregon | 90.40 | 92.60 | 93.30 | 94.10 | 95.30 | 96.30 | 96.60 | 97.00 | 96.60 | 96.8 | 98.2 |
| Pennsylvania | 79.00 | 81.80 | 83.30 | 86.30 | 86.70 | 85.10 | 87.90 | 86.00 | 83.80 | 83.5 | 84.0 |
| Rhode Island | 74.20 | 76.20 | 74.70 | 74.00 | 79.10 | 72.00 | 74.70 | 78.00 | 80.40 | 77.5 | 85.6 |
| South Carolina | 72.80 | 65.70 | 69.70 | 72.50 | 74.50 | 79.00 | 81.50 | 85.40 | 86.00 | 90.50 | |
| South Dakota | 69.90 | 69.40 | 68.80 | 71.30 | 73.00 | 71.80 | 72.10 | 74.50 | 73.40 | 66.5 | 69.7 |
| Tennessee | 68.50 | 72.00 | 74.40 | 78.60 | 80.20 | 81.50 | 80.60 | 87.10 | 87.40 | 83.7 | 84.8 |
| Texas | 84.30 | 83.20 | 89.90 | 90.40 | 91.80 | 91.20 | 92.90 | 93.80 | 93.70 | 94.0 | 90.3 |
| Utah | 85.20 | 85.70 | 86.90 | 88.60 | 86.80 | 86.00 | 86.10 | 89.00 | 89.20 | 81.9 | 82.4 |
| Vermont | 82.40 | 79.90 | 84.70 | 82.40 | 87.10 | 87.30 | 85.30 | 85.20 | 84.70 | 84.2 | 84.9 |
| Virginia | 74.60 | 79.90 | 80.40 | 78.70 | 79.90 | 80.60 | 82.30 | 80.50 | 81.80 | 78.4 | 79.7 |
| Washington | 94.80 | 94.20 | 95.20 | 96.30 | 96.40 | 96.50 | 96.40 | 97.60 | 97.50 | 96.9 | 94.5 |
| West Virginia | 73.60 | 75.80 | 84.90 | 88.50 | 89.60 | 89.50 | 87.00 | 82.10 | 84.90 | 84.0 | 82.2 |
| Wisconsin | 69.80 | 72.40 | 73.30 | 75.40 | 75.30 | 74.20 | 73.80 | 79.20 | 79.00 | 79.9 | 82.4 |
| Wyoming | N/A | 70.10 | N/A | 63.50 | 72.20 | 68.60 | 67.60 | 78.90 | 82.60 | 77.0 | 81.9 |
See also
References
- ^ a b "Seat Belt Use in 2016–Use Rates in the States and Territories (DOT HS 812 417)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. May 2017. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- ^ a b c "Seat Belt Use in 2008—Demographic Results" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. August 2009. Retrieved 2011-08-23. DOT HS 811 183: Traffic Safety Facts - A Research Note
- ^ a b "Seat Belt Use in 2013—Use Rates in the States and Territories" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. May 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-31. DOT HS 812 030: A Brief Statistical Summary
- ^ a b c d "Seat Belt Use in 2017—Overall Results (DOT HS 812 465)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. December 2017. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Seat Belt Use in 2011—Overall Results" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. December 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2013.DOT HS 811 544: Traffic Safety Facts - A Research Note
- ^ "Seat Belt Use in 2012—Use Rates in the States and Territories" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. June 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-31. DOT HS 811 809: A Brief Statistical Summary
- ^ a b "Seat Belt Use in 2011—Use Rates in the States and Territories" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. August 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-06. DOT HS 811 651: A Brief Statistical Summary
- ^ a b "Seat Belt Use in 2010—Use Rates in the States and Territories" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. July 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-23. DOT HS 811 493: A Brief Statistical Summary
- ^ "Seat Belt Use in 2009—Use Rates in the States and Territories" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. May 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-23. DOT HS 811 324: A Brief Statistical Summary
External links
- U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)