Seat Belt Safety

Seat Belts Save Lives!

Why Buckle Up?

• Studies show seat belts do save lives and reduce injuries during crashes.
• Seat belts work with air bags to protect occupants. Air bags alone are not enough to safeguard occupants.
• More than 2,000 unbuckled drivers and front seat passengers died on New Jersey's roadways in the past 10 years.
• Approximately 700 unbuckled drivers and front seat passengers were thrown out of their vehicles during crashes and killed in the past 10 years.

New Jersey’s Seat Belt Law:
(NJS 39:3-76.2f)

• Applies to all passenger vehicles including vans, pickup trucks and SUV's, that are required to be equipped with seat belts.
• Applies to all passengers, who are at least 8 years of age but less than 18 years of age, and each driver and front seat passenger of a passenger automobile, operated on a street or highway. All occupants are required to wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat belt system.
• Makes the driver responsible for proper seat beltuse by all occupants who are under the age of 18.

New Jersey’s Child Passenger Law:

• Children up to age 8 or 80 pounds must ride in a safety or booster seat in the rear seat of the vehicle. If there is no rear seat, the child must sit in the front seat secured by a child safety seat or booster seat.
• Children under age 8 who weigh more than 80 pounds must wear a seat belt anywhere in the vehicle.
• Passengers age 8 to 18 (regardless of weight) must wear a seat belt anywhere inside a vehicle.

Initiatives to Address Safety Belt Use:

View Full Report Here

The following report presents an in-depth look at one of the most significant safety issues impacting highway safety and the success of NHTSA’s mission – safety belt use. This document describes the safety problem represented by the failure to use safety belts and provides strategies the agency plans to pursue in increasing safety belt use, thereby saving lives.

In addition to the full agenda of highway safety issues, impaired driving, rollover mitigation and vehicle compatibility are the other priority issues set by NHTSA to reduce the occurrence and consequences of motor vehicle fatalities and injuries.

Each of the four documents can be found on NHTSA’s Web site and also on DOT’s docket management system (DMS).

Note: The impaired driving report is currently in agency review and should be released and posted later this year.

The docket numbers for each of the respective reports are as follows:

• Safety Belt Use NHTSA-2003-14620
• Impaired Driving NHTSA-2003-14621
• Rollover Mitigation NHTSA-2003-14622
• Vehicle Compatibility NHTSA-2003-14623

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