David Manning the administrator of Region 9 for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which comprises California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific Territories, discusses the progress in the region on occupant protection and safety. Although California's seat belt use is a high 91.1%, from 47 to 50% of the people in killed in traffic accidents each year are not belted, so there is considerable room for improvement, in terms of reducing traffic deaths and injuries as well as overall compliance. Manning calls the final group of non-compliant passengers the "late eight." Given California's large population, that percentage comes to roughly 3.1 million people, more than the population of 21 states. Another group needing more attention are the part-time users who don't buckle up for every trip. Enforcement, education and outreach are the three routes to increase compliance.
Samenvatting