Yet statistics show 68% of people who die in state traffic crashes aren’t wearing.
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Missouri’s safety belt use rate fell in 2006, the Missouri Department of Transportation announced recently. A department survey showed 75 percent of Missourians are buckling up this year as compared to 77 percent in 2005.
“I’m extremely disappointed to see our safety belt use numbers fall,” said MoDOT Director Pete Rahn.
“It worries me to think of the terrible things that can happen when people are involved in traffic crashes and aren’t buckled up. We know safety belts save lives, so it’s sad to see the number of people using them decline.”
Since 1998, the state’s safety belt use rate had slowly increased, peaking at 77 percent last year.
Teens rank the lowest in safety belt use with only 58 percent buckling up. Just 66 percent of pickup truck drivers wear safety belts.
Other Missouri safety belt statistics show:
* About 68 percent of the people who die in Missouri traffic crashes aren’t wearing a safety belt.
* When properly worn, safety belts and functioning air bags can reduce the risk of death in a vehicle crash 63 percent.
* A driver involved in a traffic crash in 2005 had a one in 32 chance of being killed if not wearing a safety belt.
In those cases where drivers wore safety belts, their chance of being killed was only one in 1,017.