A squad car seat belt. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
MADISON, Wis. - Friday, Nov. 14 is National Seat Belt Day and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and Division of Wisconsin State Patrol are reporting record-high seat belt use in the state.
Seat belt use in Wisconsin
By the numbers:
A news release from WisDOT says the most recent observational survey reported 94% of drivers in the state buckle up. This is the highest percentage of seat belt use reported since WisDOT began doing the survey 25 years ago.
Last year, 7,648 crashes in Wisconsin involved motorists who were not wearing seat belts, resulting in 176 deaths and 2,022 injuries among unbelted occupants. On average, half of all vehicle occupants killed in Wisconsin traffic crashes are not wearing seat belts, according to crash analysis data where seat belt use is a known factor.
Tracking seat belt use
Dig deeper:
WisDOT has been conducting annual observational surveys of safety belt use since 1987. Trained observers collect data at 160 observation sites throughout Wisconsin in the spring and fall using a survey designed and approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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The survey is completed through a longstanding partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The results are reported annually to NHTSA.
The backstory:
Seat belts did not become mandatory equipment in all vehicles in the United States until 1968. However, Wisconsin was ahead of the curve, becoming the first state to require seat belts to be installed in the front seats of all new cars in 1961.
In 1987, a mandatory safety belt use law went into effect requiring occupants to buckle up. Then in 2009, the law became a "primary enforcement" law, allowing law enforcement to pull over and cite drivers for not wearing a seat belt. Over the last two decades, Wisconsin continues to steadily improve its seat belt use rate.
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National Seat Belt Day was created in 2019 by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and is recognized each year on November 14 to encourage all motor vehicle occupants to buckle up every trip, every time.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.