In 1998, toddlers were restrained at a rate of 87 percent, but youths from ages 5 to 15 were restrained only 68.7 percent of the time. Drivers are less likely to use restraints when they have been drinking. Nearly 70 percent of young motor vehicle occupant fatalities died without using a seat belt or motorcycle helmet. Over half of all youths ages 13 to 19 killed as occupants in motor vehicle crashes are unrestrained. Ejection from a vehicle is one of the most life-threatening traumas that can happen to a person in a crash.
Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejections.
Minorities in Greater Danger Per mile traveled, black and Hispanic male teenagers are nearly twice as likely to die in a motor vehicle crash as male teenagers who are white. Strong belt laws lead to more widespread use of seat belts. Belt use for the same group drops to only 46.1 percent in states with secondary laws.