CDC Vital Signs - Adult Seat Belt Use in the US

Vital Signs

Adult Seat Belt Use in the US

Diagram of a person overlaid with an icon of calendar with the number 6,400, an icon of a person wearing a seatbelt with the number 50%, and an icon police with the number 7.3M.

Every day, about 6,400 adults are injured in a crash.

Using seat belts reduces serious injuries and deaths in crashes by
about 50%.

7.3M more adults would have worn their seat belts in 2008 if all states had primary enforcement seat belt laws and had 88% use.*

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CDC Vital Signs offers recent data on the important health topics of key diseases, conditions, or risk factors. Data is gathered from CDC's national monitoring systems to communicate our data in important areas of public health, and the ways people can increase their health, prevent or control disease.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people age 5 – 34. Adult seat belt use is the single most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes. The percentage of adults who always wear seat belts increased from 80% to 85% between 2002 and 2008. Even so, 1 in 7 adults do not wear a seat belt on every trip. Primary enforcement seat belt laws make a big difference in getting more people to buckle up.* In 2010, 19 states--where 1 in 4 adult Americans live--did not have a primary law.

* A primary enforcement seat belt law means a police officer can pull someone over and issue a ticket to the driver just because someone in the vehicle is not wearing a seat belt. A secondary enforcement law allows a police officer to issue a ticket for someone not wearing a seat belt only if the driver has been pulled over for some other offense.