Safety belt use at an all-time high in Wisconsin

July 29, 2010

Survey results indicate nearly 80% of motorists are buckling up

Safety belt use in Wisconsin has reached an all-time high in 2010 with 79 percent of drivers and passengers buckling up, according to a recently completed observational survey by the State Patrol Bureau of Transportation Safety. Last year, the annual statewide survey showed safety belt use was approximately 73 percent in Wisconsin.

“A 6 percent increase in safety belt use from last year certainly is encouraging. But Wisconsin still lags behind the 84 percent national average for safety belt use.” says State Patrol Major Dan Lonsdorf, director of the Bureau of Transportation Safety. “Wisconsin also is far behind neighboring states. Michigan reports a 98 percent safety belt use rate, the highest in the nation. Iowa is at 93 percent, Illinois is at 91 percent, and Minnesota is at 90 percent.”

Lonsdorf credits the enactment of a primary safety belt enforcement law in July 2009 as a major contributor to Wisconsin’s increase. Primary enforcement allows an officer to stop and ticket unbuckled drivers and passengers even if the officer did not observe another violation. He also says that local and statewide law enforcement mobilizations, like Click It or Ticket, that focus on safety belt enforcement and education are motivating more motorists to buckle up.

However, Lonsdorf points out that several areas need to be improved. “The survey results show that safety belt use is at about 69 percent for young drivers, ages 16 to 25. They are the age group least likely to buckle up,” he says. “We are concerned about the dangerous lack of safety belt use among young drivers because they are only about 15 percent of all licensed drivers in the state, yet they accounted for more than 26 percent of drivers involved in crashes in 2009.”

Wisconsin also has a significant gender gap in safety belt use. Nearly 80 percent of females buckle up while only 72 percent of males fasten their safety belts.

Different areas of the state are showing significant variations in safety belt use. Only 71 percent of motorists in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties wear safety belts. All other areas of the state show safety belt use rates ranging between approximately 76 percent and 86 percent.

“Although nearly four out five motorists in Wisconsin currently buckle up, we still must convince the other 20 percent of drivers and passengers of the dangerous consequences of their decision not to use their safety belts,” Lonsdorf says. “By simply buckling up, they can avoid the risk of getting stopped by the police and ticketed. And even more importantly, they can protect themselves for being ejected from their vehicle or bounced around violently inside it in case of a crash.”

For more information, contact:
Dennis Hughes, Bureau of Transportation Safety
(608) 267-9075, dennis.hughes@dot.wi.gov