This project will design and conduct research on the remaining fraction of Americans who do not use seat belts, with the goal of identifying practical, actionable countermeasures that can be implemented by state highway safety offices and their partners to motivate the last seat belt use holdouts to buckle up.
Status: Research Underway
Seat belts save lives, yet millions of people in the United States still ride unbelted, which makes this remaining group of non‑users a critical safety challenge. Buckling up is the single most effective action drivers and passengers can take to protect themselves from death or serious injury in a crash. Seat belt use saves more than 10,000 lives each year, but the national use rate was only 91.6 percent in 2022. That means large numbers of people continue to travel unrestrained despite clear evidence of the risks.
This project will design and conduct research on the remaining fraction of Americans who do not use seat belts, with the goal of identifying practical, actionable countermeasures that state highway safety offices and their partners can implement. The research will focus on understanding who the last holdouts are, why they continue to ride unbelted and what strategies are most likely to motivate them to buckle up.
The project will examine behavioral factors, communication approaches and policy options that could influence this group. It will also assess how existing seat belt campaigns and enforcement strategies can be adapted or strengthened to reach people who have not responded to traditional messaging.