In The News
Truckers' seat-belt use sets record
The number of truckers buckling up their seat belts jumped dramatically in 2007 to a record level of 65 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The results were the findings of the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind ever conducted, DOT said. A 2003 survey found that only 48 percent of truck drivers used seat belts; in 2006, the figure improved to 59 percent.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters credited the improvement in part to a seat-belt coalition established in 2003 and a 2007 public-service announcement starring NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace.
“Though we’ve made great strides, we won’t rest until 100 percent of commercial motor vehicle drivers wear a seat belt 100 percent of the time,†Peters said.
"The results from this newest survey illustrate the growing commitment to safety and saving lives among our drivers, and we at ATA are pleased our efforts have had some effect on that increase," said Bill Graves, American Trucking Associations president and chief executive officer.
"However, safety belts are still not being worn often enough," Graves said. "Increasing safety belt use within the trucking industry is a high-priority issue for ATA. We still lag behind the overall driving population in frequency of safety belt use."
Currently, 82 percent of passenger-vehicle drivers wear seat belts, according to the DOT.
Seat-belt use was greater (69 percent) in states with primary seat-belt laws, meaning police are empowered to pull and ticket drivers for no offense other than seat-belt violations, than in states with secondary seat-belt laws (59 percent), meaning police can ticket drivers for seat-belt violations only after pulling them for something else.
Company drivers were more likely (67 percent) to regularly wear seat belts than owner-operators (56 percent).