Since 1975, estimates show that seat belts have saved 374,276 lives. In 2000, only 70.7% of front-seat passengers wore their seat belts, and 50.9% of occupant deaths were unrestrained. The NHTSA determined that seat belts saved 13,941 lives in 2015. In 2016, 48% of people who died in a car crash were not wearing a seatbelt.

On average, every 47 minutes someone not wearing a seat belt dies in a car crash. In 2022, 11,302 people killed in car crashes were not wearing seat belts. The national estimate of seat belt use during the day by adult front-seat passengers in 2023 was 91.9%.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that seat belts saved the lives of 14,955 people in 2017 and more than 69,000 lives during the five-year period from 2013 through 2017 (National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2019).

Seat belt use is on the rise according to recent data, but there’s still work to be done to reduce fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 91.9 percent of front-seat passengers used their seat belt during daytime trips in 2023. That’s an increase of 0.3 percentage points from 2022 and 4.7 from 2013.

Seat belt statistics show the consequences are deadly for not using seat belts. In 2022, 2,034 young drivers (ages 15-20) died in traffic crashes, a 5% decrease from 2,133 in 2021; More than half (53%) were not wearing a seat belt.