The Wisconsin Department of Transportation recently completed a survey about seat belt usage in Wisconsin. After completing the survey, the Wisconsin Department of Transporation found that seat belt use is about 88%. This is the highest percentage of seat belt use that Wisconsin has ever recorded.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation conducted the same survey in 2015, and found that 85.8% of drivers and front seat passengers were wearing seatbelts. When the survey was completed in 2016, the percentage of drivers and front seat passengers wearing seatbelts increased to 88.4%. While it is good that the pecentage of people wearing seatbelts in Wisconsin has increased from last year, Wisconsin still falls behind other states in the Midwest whose percentage of seat belt wearers are over 90%.

The survey also found out some other information about seat belt use. The survey found that:

• People driving in SUVs were the most likely to be wearing their seatbelts
• The least likely to be using their seatbelts were those in pickup and commercial trucks
• Females are more likely to use their seatbelts than males
• About 6% more people are using their seat belts in the Milwaukee area than were last year

Even though more drivers and passengers are buckling up when they get in car in Wisconsin, driving without a seat belt is still dangerous. In 2015, about 50% of those killed in car accidents were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. Also almost 55,000 people were convicted of failure to wear a seatbelt in 2015.

What can we do to bring seat belt use up to 100%?