Coordinated Campaign Safe and Sober reminds Texans about the importance of using safety belts with some straight-forward facts. She said the 1995 estimate of a 71.75 percent usage rate of safety belts is based statewide on front seat passengers. One factor in determining who wears a safety belt more often is the fact that car occupants wear their safety belts more often than pick-up occupants, Womack said. Urban areas alone have a higher restraint estimate of 73.3 percent. This is a difference of about 10 percent, and this has been fairly consistent over time.
Age is also a factor.
As people get older, they also tend to wear their belts more often. Texas has a strong primary safety belt law which allows law officers to stop automobiles and issue citations when they observe someone not wearing a safety belt, according to Womack. Some states have a secondary law, where a law officer may stop and issue a citation for not using a safety belt only if another law is being broken, such as speeding. According to Texas law, all front seat passengers must be restrained with a safety belt and all children up to four years of age must be restrained. In 1985, the year we took the pre-law measurements, their usage was 28 percent.