Click It or Ticket Campaign 2015: May 18-31

Still many myths about wearing seat belts

When it comes to wearing your seat belts, some motorists may believe that they are protected by the size of their vehicle, their seating position, or where they are driving. Truth is that wearing a seat belt is the best way to protect yourself and your passengers in a crash. Fortunately, most Texans now buckle up, but some groups of motorists still aren’t taking the message to heart and aren’t consistently using seat belts. Let’s look at the myths about wearing a seat belt.

Vehicle type: There seems to be a misconception among those who drive and ride in pickup trucks that their large vehicles will protect them more than other vehicles in crashes. But the numbers say otherwise. Sixty-three percent of pickup truck occupants who were killed were not buckled up. That’s compared to 43% of passenger car occupants who were killed while not wearing their seat belts. Regardless of vehicle type, seat belt use is the single-most effective way to stay alive in a crash.

Seating position: Too many people wrongly believe they are safe in the back seat unrestrained. Half of all front-seat occupants killed in crashes in 2012 were unrestrained, but 61% of those killed in back seats were unrestrained.

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