Seat belt use in 2011 was 84 percent, down slightly from 85 percent in 2010. This is still a huge increase from 75 percent in 2002 and 58 percent in 1994. This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), which is the only survey that provides nationwide probability-based observed data on seat belt use in the United States (DOT HS 811 651, August 2012). In 2011, 21,253 occupants of passenger vehicles (passenger cars, pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs) died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of the 21,253 total occupants killed, 9,439 were restrained. Restraint use was not known for 1,634 occupants. Looking at only occupants where the restraint status was known 52% were unrestrained at the time of the crash. The proportion of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes has decreased from 2002 to 2011. Among passenger vehicle occupants killed, when restraint use was known, the percentage of unrestrained deaths decreased by 7 percentage points from 59 percent in 2002 to 52 percent in 2011. (Author/publisher)
Abstract