PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A new report from car shopping app CoPilot shows about 6 percent of commuters in Virginia don’t wear seat belts. It also shows that sliver of drivers account for nearly half of those killed in car crashes in the state.
Virginia was ranked the 28th best state for percentage of adults reporting regular seat belt use. New Hampshire had the highest number of adults not reporting wear a seatbelt regularly with 17.2% and second highest percentage of unrestrained occupants killed in crashes with 71.2%. South Dakota was second in lack of seat belt use with 15%, and was just higher than New Hampshire in fatalities with 71.2%.
California had the highest number of people reporting seat belt use and second lowest percentage of fatalities due to unrestrained drivers. The state has the highest number of commuters with more than 15 million, followed by Texas with more than 12 million.
According to the CDC, men are twice as likely as women to report not wearing a seat belt.
Men are also twice as likely to die in car crashes, based on traffic fatality data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 2016-2018.
The report also shows some good news. It says the number of motor vehicle fatalities nationwide has been trending down for decades. It cites more people wearing seat belts as the reason.
DriverSmart Virginia, of course, is always reminding drivers that a seat belt is your best defense against an impaired, distracted, or reckless driver.
To see the full report, click here.
