If you do not wear a seat belt, you have a much higher risk of serious injury or death in a crash.
More than half — 51% — of the drivers and passengers killed in 2020 were not wearing seat belts.
Americans die in crashes every year. Nearly 11,000 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants died in
2020.
58% of people killed in nighttime motor vehicle accidents in 2020 were not wearing seat belts.
42% of children under 14 who were killed in motor vehicle accidents in 2020 were not wearing seat belts.
“You are with the majority if you are appropriately wearing your seat belt, but certainly those that do not are still out there,” Dr. Martin-Gill says. “And certainly, those folks can have worsened injuries.”