Seat belt use reaches record high in Nevada

Heather Rawlyk and Cy Ryan

Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2004 | 9:11 a.m.

Nevadans are buckling their seat belts more than ever according to a recent study by the Transportation Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The study shows seat belt use reached a record high at 86.6 percent in June and July, up from 78.7 percent last year.

The study also found motorists in Reno-Carson City area are buckling up at a higher rate than drivers in the Las Vegas area and that women use seat belts more often than men.

Seat belt use in the urban area of Northern Nevada was found to be at 88.2 percent compared with the Las Vegas area at 84.5 percent, according to UNLV Transportation Systems Analyst Vinod Vasudevan. Women buckled up at 90.2 percent compared with men at 84.3 percent, he said.

In June and July graduate students and professors from the Transportation Research Center observed 20,000 vehicles at 50 locations statewide to document how many Nevadans were buckling up and which gender used seat belts the most.

"Usually we have about four people at each location, which include usually graduate students and at least one staff member," Vasudevan said. "We will usually park out at an intersection, and at each location we will document what we see with 400 vehicles, making a total of 20,000."

Of those, 16,816 were vehicles registered in Nevada and the seat belt use was 85 percent, Vasudevan said. This was compared with 86.6 percent of all vehicle passengers observed.

SUV and minivan front seat occupants were buckled up 88.5 percent of the time; sedans and station wagons, 87.2 percent; and pickup truck occupants at 80.3 percent, the study said.

Chuck Abbott, chief of the state Office of Traffic Safety, said the seat belt use for pickup trucks showed a "significant increase" from the 73 percent in 2003.

"Seat belts are the most effective device for saving the lives of motorists and it is encouraging to see this level of use," he said.

Nevada law allows police to cite drivers for not wearing a seat belt only if they are pulled over for another offense, called secondary enforcement.

According to the survey, which is conducted twice a year, seat belt use in Nevada has been increasing in the past four years.

"We've seen it going up and up for four years and especially this year," Vasudevan said. "Maybe people are trying to be more careful, maybe they're more educated or maybe they're just scared not to wear them. Either way, it's a good thing. We hope it continues to increase."