NHTSA 25-05
Thursday, October 6, 2005
Contact: Rae Tyson
Tel.: (202) 366-9550
NHTSA Studies Safety Belt Use Rates On Native American Reservations To Reduce
Deaths
A new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study found that
safety belt use on Native American tribal reservations ranges from a low of 8.8
percent to a high of 84.8 percent. The national average for safety belt use is
82 percent.
Motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death for Native Americans
throughout the continental United States. Low safety belt use rates on tribal
reservations are a key contributor, with 76 percent of fatally injured occupants
not buckled up at the time of the crash.
“Safety belts are one of the most effective and valuable safety devices
available in cars today,” said Jacqueline Glassman, Deputy Administrator of the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “We must find a way to help
Native American leaders bridge large gaps in safety belt use and, ultimately,
save lives.”
Out of 560 federally recognized tribes, 180 reservations are able to set and
enforce their own safety belt laws.
NHTSA’s study found that reservations with tribal law and traffic law
enforcement have a collective seatbelt use rate of 55.4 percent. Tribal
reservations with primary safety belt laws had a 68 percent use rate. By
comparison, tribal reservations that had secondary belt laws averaged 53.2
percent belt use. For reservations with no belt use laws of any kind, an average
of 26.4 percent of the vehicle occupants were belted. The lowest belt use rate
on sampled reservations was 8.8 percent.
The NHTSA study also found significant differences in belt use on tribal
reservations by vehicle type and occupant gender for drivers and passengers.
Safety belt use rates were higher for cars, SUVs and vans, but lower for pickup
trucks. Males were less likely to use safety belts at 52.3 percent, compared to
60.3 percent for females.
Details of the report can be found
here.