Press Release: FDOT Announces Florida's All-Time High Safety Belt Usage Rate of Nearly 90 Percent
09/22/2016
September 22, 2016 Karen Smith, 850-414-5229
karen.smith2@dot.state.fl.us
FDOT Announces Florida’s All-Time High
Safety Belt Usage Rate of Nearly 90 Percent
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Today, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced that Florida’s statewide safety belt usage rate has reached an all-time high of 89.6 percent. FDOT released the June 2016 Safety Belt Use in Florida report which affirms that FDOT and its traffic safety partners are providing effective occupant protection programs. Click It or Ticket campaigns and high visibility law enforcement have helped to increase Florida’s safety belt usage rates.
Governor Scott said, “FDOT is working each day to keep our roads safe, and this accomplishment shows their efforts are working to protect Florida families and visitors.”
FDOT Secretary Jim Boxold said, “Buckling up is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash. Safety belts save thousands of lives each year. I appreciate the dedication of our safety team and our partners to reach this all-time high usage rate.”
Research has found that lap and shoulder combination safety belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent (NHTSA, 2011).
Florida’s first statewide survey was completed in 1999 and an annual survey has been conducted every year since. Florida's statewide safety belt use rate has been above the national average every year since the implementation of a primary safety belt law in 2009 which allows law enforcement to ticket drivers who are not buckled up.
To view the June 2016 Safety Belt Use in Florida report, click here.
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