FACT SHEET

Nighttime Seat Belt Enforcement Project

May 2009

What’s Happening during the May, 2009 Nighttime Seat Belt Mobilization?

Extra seat belt-focused law enforcement patrols, supported with grant funding from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, will take place during the nighttime hours between May 18 and June 7, 2009. (WTSC)

The Commission expects to have about 70 police and sheriff agencies from across the state participate in the May mobilization, as well as the Washington State Patrol. (WTSC)

Day v. Night

Though the number of people killed at night is about the same as the number of people killed during the day, the death rate at night is four times higher because traffic volumes are much lower at night. Research shows that at least 80% of Washington traffic occurs during the day and between 12 and 20% of all vehicle travel takes place at night. The traffic death rate is a calculation of deaths per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled.  (Hallenbeck)

From 2001 through 2007, 3,229 vehicle occupant deaths resulted from Washington traffic crashes; 1,572 (49%) occurred during the day (from 6:00 am to 5:59 pm), and 1,657 (51%) occurred at night (from 6:00 pm to 5:59 am). (FARS)

From 2005 through 2006, most seat belt tickets written in Washington (85%) were written during the day. (WSP)

Research shows that over three-fourths of all traffic deaths involving drinking drivers occur at night. The drinking driver-involved death rate is about 13 times higher at night than during the day. (FARS)

Why Is This Campaign Happening?

When used correctly, seat belts reduce the risk of injury and death by about 70%, according to local and national research. (NHTSA, HIPRC)

Medical costs from collisions amount to more than $276 million each year in Washington. An unbelted vehicle occupant’s medical costs average $11,000 more per collision than those of a belted motorist. (HIPRC)

Who Still Isn’t Buckling Up?

According to a study conducted by the University of North Carolina, unbuckled drivers are more likely to be male, have less education, have numerous traffic violations on their records (DUI, running red lights, following too closely, speeding), and have no health insurance. The percentage of unbelted drivers without health insurance was higher by a ratio of two to one. (UNC)

A 2005 study of the driving records of unbuckled motorists conducted by the Traffic Safety Commission found that they have worse driving records, specifically: (Salzberg)

• More drunk driving arrests
• More license suspensions and revocations
• More vehicle violations
• More previous seat belt citations

Seat belt use is historically higher on state highways where people feel at greater risk of dying in a collision. However, collision statistics show that people are more likely to die in vehicle collisions on Washington’s county roads – where motorists are less likely to buckle up. Moreover, 86% of traffic crashes occur within 15 miles of home. (WSP)

Research shows that people who don’t buckle up are less likely to require their children to buckle up. A study conducted by the National Safety Council found that child passengers of adults who were unbuckled were also unbuckled in 75% of the cases. About 60% of the kids who die in vehicle collisions each year are not buckled up. (NSC, NHTSA)

Historical Perspective

Effective July 1 2007, a seat belt ticket costs $124. Fines are set by the Legislature and the Washington Supreme Court under RCW 46.63.110(3). (WTSC)

Efforts to get people to wear seat belts began in the late 1960s. When Washington’s secondary seat belt law passed in 1986, only 36% of motorists buckled up. Prior to 2002, daytime seat belt use had hovered between 79% and 83% for six years in a row. In 2002, the Click it or Ticket Project and Washington’s primary enforcement seat belt law (which gives law enforcement the authority to pull over unbuckled motorists) were both adopted. These efforts raised seat belt use to 93% in 2002. The most recent observational survey shows Washington’s daytime seat belt use to be 96.4%, among the highest in the USA. (WTSC)

Washington’s daytime seat belt use rate is measured by a statewide observational survey of more than 100,000 drivers and passengers. The survey is conducted in 19 counties in all parts of the state and on all road types and follows research protocols established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The same protocols have been followed since the first survey in 1986. (WTSC)

FARS  |  Fatality Analysis Research Center
WTSC  |  Washington Traffic Safety Commission
Hallenbeck  |  Mark Hallenbeck Washington Transportation Research Center (1997) “Vehicle Volume Distributions by Classification”
NHTSA  |  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
HIPRC  |  Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center
WSP |  Washington State Patrol
NSC  |  National Safety Council
Salzberg  |  Salzberg, P. & Beard, M.,WTSC (2005) “The last five percent: Who are the non-users of seat belts in Washington State?”
UNC  |  Reinfurt, D., Williams, A., Wells, J. & Rodgman, E. (1996) Characteristics of drivers not using seat belts in a high belt use state. Journal of Safety Research, 27 (4)