Primary Enforcement

• According to saferoads.org, research has shown that states that use primary enforcement seat-belt laws (tickets specifically written for drivers and non-drivers who violate a state's seat-belt law) have a higher rate of adult seat-belt use in their state. While 49 of the U.S.'s 50 states have seat-belt laws on the books as of 2009, only 26 of them actually give law enforcement officials the right to issue tickets for seat-belt violations. In the other states, the citations can only be written as part of another traffic stop.
  
  

Buckling Up By Race

• The American Journal of Public Health found that African-American men are less likely to buckle up than whites or Hispanics. That information prompted the Congressional Black Caucus to call increasing the use of seat belts among blacks an "urgent national health priority." Later research showed that blacks 18 to 29 were buckling up more, especially in states with primary enforcement.
  
  

Trickle-Down Effect

• When adults buckle up, that usually means their kids buckle up, too. Saferoads.org found that when adults buckle up, 87 percent of children use seat belts, too. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that six of out of every 10 children who die in car crashes did not wear safety belts.
  
  

Hospital Stays

• The in-patient costs for those in car accidents who don't use seat belts is 50 percent higher than those who do use seat belts, the NHTSA found. In addition, injuries resulting from non-seat belt use amounted to $26 billion in 2002, which included medical care, lost productivity wages and other costs.
  
  

Hitting the Wall

• The NHTSA found that drivers don't like being hit in the wallet when it comes to seat-belt tickets. Most state fines are $20 to 25, but some are as high as $75. The NHTSA's study of fines as they relate to seat belt use showed that for every $1 in fines, the seat-belt use rate in that state went up 0.08 percent.