Below are statistics compiled in 2003 about seat belt usage.  Wearing your seat belt is the best protection against an impaired driver and it just takes a few seconds to do.  Please make it a habit to buckle up yourself and your passengers whenever you drive a vehicle even if it is to go just a few blocks.  It's always better to be safe than sorry because we never know if or when we might be involved in a car accident or a car crash.  Thank you

In 2003, safety belts were used by only 25 percent of the fatally injured intoxicated drivers  compared to 40 percent of fatally injured drinking drivers and 56 percent of fatally injured sober drivers.

From 1975 through 2003, it is estimated that safety belts saved 179,756 lives, including 14,903 lives saved in 2003.  If all passenger vehicle occupants over age 4 wore safety belts, 20984 lives could have been saved in 2003.

It is estimated that 446 children under age 5 were saved as a result of child restraint use in 2003.  An estimated 7,020 lives were saved by child restraints from 1975-2003.

Over half (56 percent) of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes in 2003 were unrestrained.

In 2003, 65 percent of young drivers (15 to 20 years old) of passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were unrestrained.  Of the young drivers who had been drinking and were killed, 74 percent were unrestrained.

During 2003, 8,089 passenger vehicle occupants under 15 years old were involved in fatal crashes. For those children, where restraint use was known, 30 percent were unrestrained; among those who were fatally injured, 53 percent were unrestrained.

In 2003, 36 percent of passenger car occupants and 40 percent of light truck occupants involved in fatal crashes were unrestrained.

In 2004, the average safety belt usage was 11 percentage points higher in states with primary laws than in states without (84 percent to 73 percent).

For More information on seat belt safety please check out www.hp.state.sd.us

and www.madd.org