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Texas Safety Belt Use Tops 90 percent for Third Straight Year

Millions of Motorists Continue to Buckle Up

Nine of ten Texas motorists are continuing to buckle up, thanks to almost a decade of annual campaigns conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) urging drivers and passengers to fasten their safety belts.

A new survey completed by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) indicates that 91.2 percent of drivers and front seat passengers in Texas are abiding by state law to buckle up. It is the third year in a row that the Texas safety belt use rate has topped 90 percent.

“We are extremely pleased that Texas is one of only 11 states in the nation where more than 90 percent of motorists have gotten the message to buckle up,” said Terry Pence, director of TxDOT’s Traffic Safety Section. “Our ongoing challenge is to reach the drivers and passengers who still aren’t in the habit of using safety belts, particularly those who drive or ride in pickups.”

TTI’s survey found that drivers and passengers of pickup trucks are the least likely to buckle up. While an estimated 88 percent of pickup drivers comply with state law, pickup passengers are lagging behind. Observers found that only 78 percent of passengers in pickups use safety belts, even though required by law.

Researchers say the state has made steady progress to convince the state’s 15 million licensed drivers and their passengers to buckle up.

“When we first conducted a safety belt survey in 1985 in 12 Texas cities, only 14 percent of drivers and passengers were using safety belts,” said Katie Womack, a senior research scientist with TTI’s Center for Transportation Safety. “After the safety belt law was enacted in 1985, the usage rate jumped to 65 percent, and it’s continued to go up, hitting the 90% mark for the first time in 2006.”

TxDOT attributes the steady rise in safety belt use in recent years to the annual Click It or Ticket campaign, which combines extensive public service announcements with stepped-up law enforcement efforts each May. As a result of the surge in safety belt use in Texas since 2001, federal officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimate that 1,600 lives have been saved, 37,000 injuries have been prevented and economic savings have reached $6.6 billion.

According to NHTSA, safety belt use doubles the chances of surviving a serious crash. It also can prevent motorists from receiving a fine of up to $200.