Seat belt use in 2008 stood at 83 percent, a gain from 82 percent use in 2007. This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), which provides the only nationwide probability-based observed data on seat belt use in the United States. NOPUS is conducted annually by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA. The 2008 survey also found the following: seat belt use for occupants on expressways increased to 90 percent in 2008 (89% in 2007), and this increase is statistically significant; seat belt use continued to be higher in states in which vehicle occupants can be pulled over solely for not using seat belts ('primary law' states) than those with weaker enforcement laws ('secondary law' states). Seat belt use has risen steadily since NOPUS began collecting data in 1994, and this has been accompanied by a steady decline in passenger vehicle occupant fatalities per mile traveled. (Author/publisher)
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