Rear-Seat Belt Use in 2006

In 2006, seat belt use in the United States continued to be higher in the front seat (81%) than in the rear seat (65%). This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), which provides the only probability-based observed data on seat belt use in the United States. NOPUS is conducted annually by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The 2006 survey also found the following: (1) Rear-seat belt use among passengers 70 and older decreased from 84 percent in 2005 to 69 percent in 2006. This decrease is statistically significant. (2) Rear-seat belt use continued to be lower among African- Americans than other races. The front-seat belt use nationwide was 81 percent in 2006, down slightly but not statistically from the 2005 use rate of 82 percent.