United States Department of Transportation
Seat Belts
English
Overview
One of the safest choices drivers or passengers can make is to buckle up. In 2015, seat belt use in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 13,941 lives. Many Americans understand the lifesaving value of the seat belt – the national use rate is at 90.1 percent – but nearly 27.5 million still don’t buckle up. Check out NHTSA’s resources about seat belt usage, the benefits of always wearing a seat belt, and the potentially fatal consequences of not buckling up.
NHTSA in Action
It's Life or Death
48 %
Percentage of Passenger Vehicle Occupants Killed in 2015 Who Were Unrestrained
Seat belts save lives. They reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and light-truck occupants by 60 percent.
Of the 35,092 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2015, 48 percent were not wearing seat belts.
In 2015 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 13,941 lives – and could have saved an additional 2,814 people if they had been wearing their seat belts.
In total, seat belts have saved 344,448 lives since 1975, when NHTSA first began recording this data. If everyone had been wearing a seat belt since, an additional 381,787 lives could have been saved.
During a vehicle crash, being buckled up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas being completely thrown out of a vehicle is almost always deadly.
NHTSA in Action
Proper Seat Belt Use Is Vital
Seat belts save lives, which is why it’s vital that we all buckle up—every ride, front seat and back. Wearing a seat belt properly is also essential.
Follow these guidelines when you buckle up:
The lap belt and shoulder belt are secured across the pelvis and rib cage, which are more able to withstand crash forces than other parts of your body.
Place the shoulder belt across the middle of your chest and away from your neck.
The lap belt rests across your hips, not your stomach.
NEVER put the shoulder belt behind your back or under an arm.
Find out when your child is ready to use an adult seat belt and learn about seat belt safety when you’re pregnant. You can find these and other tips for keeping kids safe in and around cars at NHTSA’s Parents Central.
NHTSA in Action
On the Rise, Saving Lives
Seat belt use in the United States has steadily increased – from 70.7 percent in 2000 to 90.1 percent in 2016. Rates differ significantly across the country with one key factor at play: States that have primary seat belt laws, where you can be pulled over solely for not wearing a seat belt, have higher seat belt use rates (91.2% versus 78.6%).
NHTSA in Action
Educating the Public
As part of its mission to help Americans drive, ride and walk safely, NHTSA works to educate Americans about how to protect themselves and others on the road through public service campaigns such as Buckle Up America, our Never Give Up Until They Buckle Up to promote tween seat belt use, and Click It or Ticket, which is tied to stepped-up seat belt enforcement periods supported by State and local law enforcement across the country.
Campaigns
Seat Belt Safety - Tweens
Resources
Key Resources
Seat Belt Enforcement
Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluations
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation, 2011
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation, 2010
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation, 2008-2009
- Evaluation of Teen Seat Belt Demonstration Projects in Colorado and Nevada
- Click It or Ticket Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluation Report 2004
- Click It or Ticket Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluation Report 2005
- Click It or Ticket Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluation Report 2006
- Click It or Ticket Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluation Report 2007
- Analyzing the First Years of the Click It or Ticket Mobilizations
- A Study Of Nighttime Safety Belt Use In Indiana
- Effectiveness of the May 2005 Rural Demonstration Program and the Click It or Ticket Mobilization in the Great Lakes Region: First Year Results
- Evaluation of the "Buckle Up in Your Truck" Programs
- Nighttime Enforcement of Seat Belt Laws: An Evaluation of Three Community Programs
- Evaluation of a County Enforcement Program With a Primary Seat Belt Ordinance: St. Louis County, Missouri
Seat Belts and Occupant Protection
- Strategies to Increase Seat Belt Use: An Analysis of Levels of Fines and the Type of Law
- Guidelines to Observe And Estimate Statewide Seat Belt Use at Night
- Identifying Strategies to Reduce the Percentage of Unrestrained Young Children
- Evaluation of a Rural Demonstration Program to Increase Seat Belt Use in the Great Lakes Region
- Seat Belt Demonstration Programs in KY, MS, ND, and WY
- Connecticut's Day and Night Safety Belt Use
- Safety Belt Use Estimate for Native American Tribal Reservations
- Seat Belt Use at Selected Sites in New Mexico
- Unconscious Motivators and Situational Safety Belt Use
- The Effects of Changing to Primary Enforcement Seat Belt Use
- Occupant Protection Issues Among Older Drivers and Passengers
- Increasing Seat Belt Use Among 8- to 15-Year-Olds
- 2006 Seat Belt Use Estimate for Native American Tribal Reservations
- Motor Vehicle Occupant Protection Facts (2003-2008)
- Identifying Information That Promotes Belt-Positioning Booster Use
- Evaluation of Maine's Seat Belt Law Change From Secondary to Primary Enforcement
- Booster Seat Law Enforcement: Examples From DE, NJ, PA, and WA
- Pilot Tests of a Seat Belt Gearshift Delay On the Belt Use of Commercial Fleet Drivers
- Analyzing Daytime and Nighttime Seat Belt Use in Fatally Injured Passenger Vehicle Occupants
- Evaluation of the First Year of the Washington Nighttime Seat Belt Enforcement Program
- Using Haptic Feedback to Increase Seat Belt Use of Service Vehicle Drivers
Resources
All Resources
Enforcement
- Evaluation of a Rural Demonstration Program to Increase Seat Belt Use in the Great Lakes Region
- Seat Belt Demonstration Programs in KY, MS, ND, and WY
- Evaluation of the First Year of the Washington Nighttime Seat Belt Enforcement Program
- Effectiveness of the May 2005 Rural Demonstration Program and the Click It or Ticket Mobilization in the Great Lakes Region: First-Year Results
- Evaluation of the "Buckle Up in Your Truck" Programs
Law Evaluation
- The Effects of Changing to Primary Enforcement Seat Belt Use
- Evaluation of Maine's Seat Belt Law Change From Secondary to Primary Enforcement
- Strategies to Increase Seat Belt Use: An Analysis of Levels of Fines and the Type of Law
- Evaluation of a County Enforcement Program With a Primary Seat Belt Ordinance: St. Louis County, Missouri
Night vs. Day Seat Belt Use
- Guidelines to Observe And Estimate Statewide Seat Belt Use at Night
- Connecticut's Day and Night Safety Belt Use (2005)
- Analyzing Daytime and Nighttime Seat Belt Use in Fatally Injured Passenger Vehicle Occupants
- Seat Belt Use at Selected Sites in New Mexico
- Nighttime Enforcement of Seat Belt Laws: An Evaluation of Three Community Programs
Children and Pre-Drivers Passenger Safety
Other
- Unconscious Motivators and Situational Safety Belt Use
- Occupant Protection Issues Among Older Drivers and Passengers
- 2006 Seat Belt Use Estimate for Native American Tribal Reservations
- Pilot Tests of a Seat Belt Gearshift Delay On the Belt Use of Commercial Fleet Drivers
- Using Haptic Feedback to Increase Seat Belt Use of Service Vehicle Drivers
Seat Belt Mobilization Evaluations
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation, 2011
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation, 2010
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation (2008-2009)
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation 2004
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation 2005
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation 2006
- Click It or Ticket Evaluation 2007
- Analyzing the First Years of the Click It or Ticket Mobilizations
Medical Cost Savings in States with Primary Seat Belt Laws
Teens
Occupant Safety Survey Reports
- 2007 Occupant Safety Survey
- 2003 Occupant Safety Survey
- Driver Education and GDL
Click It or Ticket
When you’re not wearing your seat belt, you’re risking serious injury or death. From May 15th through June 4th, cops will be stepping up enforcement on motorists not wearing their seat belts.
Save a life: buckle up
Your seat belt is crucial to surviving a crash. Make it a habit to always buckle up every time.
- In 2015, nearly half of passenger vehicle occupants who died in crashes were unrestrained.
- From 2011 to 2015, seat belts saved nearly 64,000 lives – enough to fill a football stadium.
#ClickItOrTicket
