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Seat Belt Use in Florida at an All Time High, Officials Say

Florida’s Click It or Ticket safety belt campaign is being credited by state officials with helping to increase safety belt usage to an all time high of 88.1 percent.

Following the Click It or Ticket campaign, an observational survey of Florida vehicles was undertaken in June 2011. The survey’s results show an all-time high safety belt usage rate. Increases in 8 of 12 survey counties led Florida to an overall use rate of 88.1 percent compared to 87.4 percent in 2010. Pickup truck drivers and their passengers continue to be among the lowest users.

“We have made great strides in getting more and more people to buckle up, but we still have a long way to go,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad, in a news release. “We must continue to do even more to meet our vision of delivering a transportation system that is fatality and congestion free.”

In 2009, the use of seat belts in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 12,713 lives, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Seat belts have saved over 72,000 lives during the 5-year period from 2005 through 2009.

During the Click It or Ticket campaign in Florida from May 23 to June 5, law enforcement agencies stepped up patrols and traffic safety efforts while instituting a zero tolerance policy for people not buckled up.

“Florida’s record high safety belt compliance rate is a great example of how effective legislation can be,” said Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Julie Jones. “Lawmakers changed the law to make it easier to enforce, and the men and women of the Florida Highway Patrol and the agencies we partner with stepped up to the challenge to move the state toward our vision of a safer Florida.”

Surveys of belt use conducted during the 1990s indicated no sustained increase in Florida’s statewide use rate. Florida’s seat belt use rate then improved over time after the year 2000. Increases measured over this time are due, at least in part, to the implementation of highly and widely visible efforts to enforce Florida’s adult seat belt law.

A substantial rate increase was measured after implementation of the Primary seat belt law in June 2009, and the rate has increased in each year since.

Florida law requires the use of safety belts for all drivers and passengers in all motorized vehicles, except:

• Persons who have a doctor-certified medical condition for which the use of a safety belt may be inappropriate or dangerous
• Employees of a newspaper home delivery service or a solid waste /recyclable collection service working designated routes
• Persons traveling in the living quarters of a recreational vehicle or a space within a truck body primarily intended for merchandise or property
• Persons traveling in vehicles that are not required to be equipped with safety belts under federal law

“We are proud to participate in campaigns, such as Click It or Ticket, to raise awareness of such an easy step that all motorists can and should take to make each ride in a motor vehicle safer,” Jones said.

For more on traffic safety issues, see the library of articles by Daytona Beach car accident attorney.



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