- When parents travel without their safety belts, their children’s restraint use drops by 36 percentage points.
- In 2004, 55 percent of those killed in passenger vehicles were not wearing safety belts.
- Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejections; only 1 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants reported to have been using restraints in fatal crashes were totally ejected compared with 29 percent of the unrestrained occupants.
- Motor vehicle crashes in 2000 cost a total of $230.6 billion. This equals $820 for each person living in the United States.
- The general public pays nearly three-quarters of all crash costs, primarily through insurance premiums, taxes, delays, and lost productivity.
- The African-American population is expected to increase by 13 percent by 2010, which will significantly increase its exposure to traffic crashes.