NTSB - Most Wanted

Most Wanted

Transportation Safety

Improvements

State Issues

Enact Primary Seat Belt Enforcement Laws

Importance

The number of fatal injuries to occupants of highway vehicles has always been the highest of any mode of transportation.

In 2005, according to data released by NHTSA, more than 31,400 people died as occupants in auto crashes, 55 percent of whom were unrestrained.

Lap/shoulder belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent.

In 2006, when adults were buckled up, 87 percent of children were buckled up, but when adults were not buckled up, only 58 percent of children were buckled up (1).

States with primary enforcement have about a 10-15 percentage-point-higher seat belt use rate than States with secondary enforcement.

NHTSA estimates that seat belts saved 15,632 lives in 2005. Had all passenger vehicle occupants over age 4 used seat belts, an additional 5,328 lives could have been saved.

Safety Recommendation

H-97-2 (the States, the District of Columbia, and the Territories)
Issued July 1, 1997
Added to the Most Wanted list: 1998
Status: Various
Enact legislation that provides for primary enforcement of mandatory seat belt use laws, including provisions such as the imposition of driver’s license penalty points and appropriate fines. Existing legal provisions that insulate people from the financial consequences of not wearing a seat belt should be repealed. (Source: Letter of recommendation dated July 1, 1997, as a result of the Board’s 1997 Public Forum on Air Bags and Child Passenger Safety)

Summary of Action

Twenty-six States (AL, AK, CA, CT, DE, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MS, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OK, OR, SC, TN, TX, and WA), the five Territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the District of Columbia have enacted primary enforcement laws. However, the primary enforcement law applies to all seating positions in only 11 States and the District of Columbia.

Fines for non-compliance in the United States typically range from $10 to $25; 10 States and the District of Columbia assess a fine (sometimes combined with special fees) of $50 or more. Only the District of Columbia, New Mexico, New York, and the U.S. Virgin Islands assess penalty points for seat belt violations.

In 2007, at least 25 States (AZ, AR, CO, FL, GA, ID, KS, MA, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NY, ND, OK, PA, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WV, WI, and WY) considered legislation to authorize primary enforcement or make other improvements to their existing seat belt laws. Maine, which already had a seat belt law that applied to all seating positions, enacted primary enforcement legislation. Indiana, which already authorized primary enforcement, enacted legislation making its seat belt law applicable to all seating positions.

Actions Remaining

Twenty-four States lack primary seat belt enforcement laws, and 15 primary enforcement States lack seat belt laws that apply to all seating positions.

September 2007

1 United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Child Restraint Use in 2006 – Overall Results, DOT HS 810 737 (Washington, DC: NHTSA, 2007) 1.

Map - Primary Seat Belt Enforcement Laws (93 KB)
Chart - Primary Seat Belt Enforcement Laws (37 KB)

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