Indiana Traffic Safety Facts: Occupant Protection, 2006

Abstract

Indiana’s observed seat belt usage rate has increased from 62 percent in 2000 to 84 percent in 2006. Nevertheless, 54 percent of the persons killed in traffic collisions in Indiana in 2006 (where restraint usage was known) were not wearing seat belts. This fact sheet examines the use of protection devices such as safety belts, child restraint seats, and airbags in motor vehicles, the laws governing their use, and the lives that could have been saved had protection devices been used.