Seat belt safety

Seat belts

Although Wisconsin's safety belt use rate is at an all-time high of 75%, the state still has a long way to go to achieve the national safety belt use rate of 82%.
Wisconsin is also behind neighboring states including Michigan and Illinois, which have safety belt use rates of more than 90%.

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.
According to national statistics, 77% of passenger vehicle occupants who were in serious crashes in 2006 and were buckled up survived the crash.
Every 1% increase in safety belt use in Wisconsin can save an estimated six lives per year.
In Wisconsin, traffic crashes killed 96 teenagers in 2007. Teen safety belt use is much lower than adult drivers. Lack of safety belt use coupled with a lack of driving experience is a deadly combination for teens.

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% 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 nearly $1.2 million and each incapacitating injury approximately $62,400 based on National Safety Council estimates. In 2006, economic losses from traffic fatalities and injuries in Wisconsin were more than $2 billion, according to the 2006 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