So I was going through some Wikipedia articles today and stumbled upon this interesting table of seat belt use by states. You can click on the column headings to arrange the states from best to worst.
Does anyone have any idea why there are such different rates of use? I can’t come up with any credible reason (or even stereotypes) to explain the differences.
From highest rate of use to lowest:
Washington 97.5
California 96.6
Oregon 96.6
Hawaii 96
District of Columbia 95.2
Michigan 94.5
New Jersey 94.5
Maryland 94.2
Nevada 94.1
Texas 93.7
Iowa 93.5
Indiana 93.2
Georgia 93
Illinois 92.9
Minnesota 92.7
New Mexico 90.5
New York 90.5
Delaware 90.3
North Carolina 89.5
Alaska 89.3
Utah 89.2
Connecticut 88.4
Florida 88.1
Alabama 88
Tennessee 87.4
South Carolina 86
Oklahoma 85.9
West Virginia 84.9
Vermont 84.7
Nebraska 84.2
Ohio 84.1
Pennsylvania 83.8
Arizona 82.9
Kansas 82.9
Wyoming 82.6
Kentucky 82.2
Colorado 82.1
Mississippi 81.9
Virginia 81.8
Maine 81.6
Rhode Island 80.4
Idaho 79.1
Missouri 79
Wisconsin 79
Arkansas 78.4
Louisiana 77.7
Montana 76.9
North Dakota 76.7
New Hampshire 75
South Dakota 73.4
Massachusetts 73.2
States passed mandatory seatbelt laws at different times, so my WAG is that the difference is due to differing histories and levels of enforcement between the states.
Based on that table, it seems to track closest with primary/secondary enforcement- the high compliance states are all primary enforcement states.
So basically states where cops can pull you over and ticket you for not wearing a seat-belt have higher compliance levels than states where they can only ticket you for not wearing a seat-belt if they’ve already pulled you over for something else.
The NHTSA document cites to “probability-based observational surveys.” I have to wonder whether survey conditions vary by state, particularly by primary vs. secondary enforcement.
Nevada’s rate is unusually high for a secondary-enforcement state. I would have expected more people willing to gamble.
I notice Wisconsin is close to the bottom.
It only somewhat recently became a primary enforcement state, and the cite is only $10 with no demerit points assessed. The least expensive parking ticket I can write is $15.
I had no idea that in other states cops could pull people over only because they were not wearing a seat belt. That does seem to be a big factor along with higher fines.
It also highlights how different people think of things. It never occurred to me that anyone would wear their seat belt because they are scared of a ticket. I thought people wore them because they didn’t want their face to be rammed through the windshield in an accident (this was my personal motivation).
Not only can they, they actually do! Got one myself onced. (In WA, land of the highest compliance.) Thet seen to enforce it pretty strictly around here.
To the last point, I don’t primarily wear one to avoid a ticket, I primarily wear it to avoid that beep beep beep my car does if I don’t buckle up
What everyone else has said, plus it may have to do with the percentage of newer cars on the road. New cars won’t let you drive without your seat belt on unless you can put up with that annoying chiming every five seconds.
It looks like it tracks pretty closely to higher usage in primary enforcement states and highest of all in primary enforcement states with triple digit fines.
(I think it’s interesting that Nevada has a pretty high usage rate despite being a secondary enforcement state. I guess maybe since everyone moved there from somewhere else they were already in the habit or don’t realize they can’t get pulled over for it.)
Because it’d be too late; if a police officer pulls you over for not wearing a seat belt, he/she has already noticed that you aren’t wearing a seat belt.
I wonder too if there is a city/country correlation. I’ve read of some city police forces in Canada imitating street beggars to observe whether people are wearing belts, then radioing to the police car at the next block. (I think it was Vancouver or Edmonton, some Squeegee kid complained the police ran him off his usual corner to set up such a sting). AFAIK in every province in Canada, it’s a primary offense, and fines can be $50 to $100. It’s a money-making proposition for the municipalities.
Cop sees you speeding. Also observes no obvious shoulder harness, and therefor no seatbelt. He turns on his flashing lights. You struggle to put on your seat belt while he follows and watches. Once belted, you pull over. Ticket for speeding **and **for failing to wear seatbelt ensues.
That’s certainly the typical outcome in the secondary enforcement states I’ve seen.
[QUOTE I thought people wore them because they didn’t want their face to be rammed through the windshield in an accident (this was my personal motivation).[/QUOTE]
Well, yes, you would think so, but there was a time when some argued that your chances of surviving an accident were BETTER if you were ejected from the car in case the car caught fire. Of course, fires are not that common in car wrecks, except in the movies where they explode as they go over cliffs,
Then there is the macho angle. I have used my seat belt from the day they were available and witnessed a bit of scoffing from my macho friends. Well, I have rolled a couple of cars and emerged without a scratch. Plenty of people who held the aforementioned attitudes are now among the formerly living, keeping company with those who were too macho to wear their helmets while motorcycling.
This is why we have needed these laws: to protect fools from themselves, and to protect their families from the fools.
