The Importance of Buckling Your Seatbelt

Last Updated on December 12, 2025

Buckling your seat belt is one of the simplest and most effective ways to save lives. A few seconds of effort dramatically reduces your chances of being seriously hurt in a crash.

Seat belt use in the United States is high—nationwide observational surveys show that around 9 out of 10 drivers and passengers buckle up. Yet nearly half of all people killed in passenger vehicle crashes are still unrestrained. In other words, the people who skip the belt are badly over-represented in fatal crashes.

Seat belts matter because they keep you in the vehicle, spread crash forces across the strongest parts of your body, and help you work together with other safety systems like airbags. They are still the single most important safety feature in your car.

Because of this, many states and safety agencies promote “Click It or Ticket” campaigns. Police departments run high-visibility enforcement periods throughout the year, reminding drivers that wearing a seat belt is not just smart—it’s the law.

Key Takeaways

• Seat belts remain the single most important safety feature in your vehicle, sharply reducing the risk of death or serious injury in a crash.
• Even though about 90% of Americans buckle up, roughly half of all passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes are still unrestrained.
• Modern lap-and-shoulder belts cut the risk of fatal injury for front-seat occupants by around 45% in cars and about 60% in pickups, vans, and SUVs.
• Seat belt laws are mandatory for adults in every state except New Hampshire, and tickets for not buckling up can lead to fines and, in some cases, higher insurance premiums.

The History of Seat Belts

The seat belt actually predates the automobile. In the mid-1800s, English engineer George Cayley used simple belts to keep pilots in place in his early gliders. Similar belts later appeared in airplanes and race cars long before everyday drivers used them.

By the middle of the 20th century, emergency room doctors started noticing a troubling pattern: people who survived the initial impact of a car crash often suffered severe head, chest, and neck injuries after being thrown around the cabin or ejected from the vehicle. Early two-point lap belts emerged as a solution, but they weren’t perfect. In some high-speed crashes, poorly designed lap belts could cause serious internal injuries.

The real breakthrough came in the 1950s. American engineers Roger W. Griswold and Hugh DeHaven patented a three-point restraint that combined a lap belt with a diagonal shoulder strap. A few years later, Volvo safety engineer Nils Bohlin refined the design into the modern three-point seat belt we use today—strong, easy to buckle, and comfortable enough that people would actually wear it.

Governments soon followed. In 1966, Congress passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, requiring vehicles sold in the United States to meet minimum safety standards, including seat belt installation. By the late 1960s, new cars sold in America were routinely equipped with seat belts as standard safety features.

Seat belt use laws came later. In 1970, Victoria, Australia, became the first jurisdiction in the world to require drivers and front-seat passengers to wear seat belts. New York followed in 1984 with the first mandatory seat belt law in the United States, and other states quickly adopted similar rules.

Today, wearing a seat belt is mandatory in 49 states. The only exception is New Hampshire, which requires seat belts only for minors, not for adult drivers and passengers.

The Consequences of Not Wearing a Seat Belt

You don’t need complicated math to see why seat belts save lives. In a crash, your vehicle stops suddenly, but your body keeps moving. Without a belt, you can slam into the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield, roof, side windows, or other passengers—or be thrown completely out of the vehicle.

Modern lap-and-shoulder belts are designed to control that movement. When worn correctly, they keep you securely in your seat and distribute crash forces across the strongest bones in your body—your pelvis and ribcage—rather than soft tissues in your abdomen and neck.

According to safety research from federal agencies and independent organizations, wearing a seat belt:

• Reduces the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by about 45%
• Reduces the risk of moderate to critical injury to front-seat occupants by about 50%
• Provides even greater protection—around a 60% reduction in risk of death—for people in pickups, SUVs, and vans
• Prevents you from being ejected from the vehicle, which is almost always deadly
• Helps your airbags work as designed; the force of an airbag can injure or kill you if you are unrestrained or out of position

Being ejected from a vehicle is among the most serious outcomes in a crash. Even when occupants aren’t ejected, hitting the interior of the car at high speed can cause catastrophic head, spinal, and internal injuries. Your seat belt is the first line of defense against these forces.

Additional Seat Belt Safety Facts

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other safety groups highlight just how important seat belts are:

• Seat belts are the single most effective safety technology ever installed in vehicles, saving hundreds of thousands of lives over the past several decades.
• In recent years, about 49% of passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes were unrestrained, even though overall seat belt use is above 90% nationwide.
• Unrestrained fatalities are more common at night and on rural roads, where high speeds and delayed medical care make crashes more deadly.
• Rear-seat passengers are especially at risk when they don’t buckle up. A person unrestrained in the back can be thrown into people in the front seats, injuring everyone.
• Seat belts are critically important during pregnancy. When worn correctly, they help protect both the pregnant person and the unborn child by keeping the abdomen away from hard surfaces and airbags.

How to Wear a Seat Belt Correctly

Simply clicking the buckle isn’t enough—you need to wear your seat belt the right way. Follow these basic tips every time you get in a vehicle:

• Use both the lap and shoulder portions. Never tuck the shoulder belt behind your back or under your arm.
• Position the lap belt low and snug. It should sit across your hips and upper thighs, not across your stomach.
• Place the shoulder belt across the center of your chest and collarbone. It should not cross your neck or face.
• Adjust your seat. Sit upright with your back against the seat and move the seat back far enough that you’re at least 10 inches from the steering wheel airbag.
• Help kids use the right restraint. Children should ride in car seats or booster seats appropriate for their height and weight until they fit a seat belt properly. Never let a child put the shoulder belt behind their back or under their arm.

It’s Illegal to Not Buckle Up

Beyond safety, wearing a seat belt is a legal requirement in nearly every state. The only exception is New Hampshire, where adults are not required to wear seat belts but all minors must be restrained.

States enforce seat belt laws in two main ways:

Primary enforcement: Police officers can stop and ticket you solely for not wearing a seat belt. Most states now use primary enforcement, at least for front-seat occupants.

Secondary enforcement: Officers can only issue a seat belt citation if you were stopped for another violation, such as a primary offense like speeding or reckless driving.

Fines vary by state but typically range from about $20 to $100 for a first offense, with higher penalties when unrestrained children are involved or for repeat violations. Some states also add court costs or additional assessments.

Many states now require belts for back-seat adults as well as front-seat occupants, and nearly all require children to be in age-appropriate car seats or booster seats. Because the rules change over time, it’s smart to check your state’s DMV or highway safety office for the latest requirements.

Will a seat belt ticket raise your car insurance? It can. Some insurers treat a seat belt citation as a minor moving violation, especially if it’s issued along with another ticket. A single violation may have little impact, but multiple tickets or other infractions on your record can increase your premiums at renewal.

Seat Belt Usage by State

Nationwide seat belt use consistently hovers around the low-90% range, but usage varies widely from state to state. Observational surveys conducted for NHTSA show that states with strong primary enforcement laws typically achieve higher use than those with only secondary enforcement or no adult belt law.

According to recent NHTSA data on seat belt use in the states and territories, observed seat belt use in 2023 ranged from the mid-70% range in the lowest-use states to nearly 100% in the highest-use states. These numbers change slightly from year to year, but a few patterns stand out:

States with Very High Seat Belt Usage

Several states consistently report belt use rates above 95%. In recent surveys, these high-use states have included:

• Hawaii
• Oregon
• Iowa
• California
• Alaska

Most of these states have long-standing primary enforcement laws and strong public education campaigns, which help keep belt use high.

States with Lower Seat Belt Usage

On the other end of the spectrum, a handful of states still struggle to get seat belt use above 80%. Recent surveys have shown relatively low use in states such as:

• New Hampshire
• Virginia
• Nebraska
• Arkansas
• Massachusetts

Some of these states have only secondary enforcement laws or, in New Hampshire’s case, no adult seat belt requirement at all. Historically, those policy choices are associated with lower belt use and higher rates of unrestrained fatalities.

If you’re curious about where your state stands, you can look up the latest “Seat Belt Use in the States and Territories” report on NHTSA’s CrashStats website. The exact rankings change from year to year, but the message stays the same: states with more people buckling up see fewer people dying unrestrained.

FAQs on Seat Belt Use

Final Word

Decades of crash data all point to the same conclusion: seat belts save lives. Even though most Americans buckle up, a large share of people killed in crashes each year are not wearing their belts.

Whether you think of it as a safety habit, a legal obligation, or a way to keep your car insurance costs down by avoiding serious claims, wearing your seat belt is one of the easiest decisions you can make on the road. Every time you get into a vehicle—no matter how short the trip—buckle up, and make sure everyone else in the car does too.