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Seat belt safety

Safety belts are the most effective means of saving lives and reducing serious injuries in traffic crashes.

They're also the law.

In Wisconsin, drivers and occupants of vehicles are subject to a fine for not wearing their seat belts.

Seat belts save an estimated 9,500 lives in America each year (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1998).

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death to children in America. And each year in the U.S., approximately 1,800 children ages 14 and under are killed as occupants in motor vehicles and more than 280,000 are injured.

Safety belts, air bags and proper child safety seats, when used consistently and correctly, can significantly reduce the rate of injury in a crash.

Current usage for seat belts in Wisconsin is around 75%.

The number of lives saved could be substantially increased if more people used safety belts.

Life-saving advice

• Always wear lap and shoulder belt.
• Never place shoulder belt under your arm or behind your back.
• Always use rear-facing child seats for children under 20 lbs and 1 year old.
• Always use forward-facing child seats for children 20-40 lbs and over 1 year old.
• Never place rear-facing child seat in front seat of vehicle with passenger side airbags.
• Always attempt to place children 12 years and under in back seat.

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Photo on this page courtesy of AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Questions about the content of this page:
Patricia Hansen, patricia.hansen@dot.state.wi.us
Last modified: September 6, 2006