Seat belt use in 2012 was 86 percent, up from 84 percent in 2011. This is a huge increase from 79 percent in 2003 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 811 691). In 2012, there were 21,667 occupants of passenger vehicles (passenger cars, pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs) who died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of the 21,667 total occupants killed, 9,679 were restrained. Restraint use was not known for 1,653 occupants. Looking only at occupants where the restraint status was known, 52 percent were unrestrained at the time of the crashes. The proportion of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes has decreased from 2003 to 2012. Among passenger vehicle occupants killed when restraint use was known, the percentage of unrestrained deaths decreased by 4 percentage points from 56 percent in 2003 to 52 percent in 2012. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting