Safety-belt usage in Missouri has climbed to its highest-ever rate.
According to a news release, the latest Missouri Seat-Belt Usage Survey, which has been taken annually since 1998, shows 87.1 percent of Missourians use a safety belt. In 1998, that figure was 60 percent. Missouri is nearing the national average at 89.7 percent.
Sixty-one percent of Missouri’s traffic-crash fatalities in 2017 involved an unbelted driver or passenger.
Observers recorded data from 560 sites within 28 Missouri counties on more than 135,000 vehicle occupants. The report showed vehicle passengers and females were more commonly belted, and that occupants of sport-utility vehicles and minivans also had a higher rate of safety-belt usage at 86.5 percent. Pickup-truck drivers and passengers had the lowest usage rate at 71 percent.
Missouri is one of only 15 states with only a secondary safety-belt law. To date, 58 Missouri cities and two counties have adopted their own primary safety-belt ordinances.
For more information regarding roadway safety or “Buckle Up Phone Down,” visit www.saveMOlives.com.