State leads U.S. in buckling up

Thu., Sept. 28, 2006

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

SEATTLE – A higher percent of drivers buckle up in Washington than in any other state in the nation, according to new data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

The state’s drivers got a seat-belt use score of 96.3 percent, surpassing those in Hawaii, whose seat-belt usage dropped to 92 percent. The national average was 79 percent.

“These findings are good news for Washington motorists and law-enforcement officers,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The Traffic Safety Commission surveys motorists each summer to calculate seat-belt usage. More than 100,000 observers stood on 402 freeway overpasses and on street corners monitoring who was wearing seat belts and who wasn’t. Each site was observed for 80 minutes.

Seat-belt usage increased after June 2002, when a state law went into effect allowing police to stop a car if drivers or passengers weren’t wearing their seat belts. Before that, drivers had to be pulled over for another offense.

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