Press Release - 03-09-2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2023
NHTSA, GTSC HELP RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT IMPORTANCE OF SEAT BELT USE IN THE BACK SEAT
Demonstration Campaign Kicking Off in Syracuse
Aims to Increase Knowledge of Dangers for Unbelted Rear Passengers
[Syracuse, NY] — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is teaming up with the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) to educate people about wearing a seat belt while riding in the rear seat of a vehicle. From March 10 to March 17, 2023, the Rear Seat Belt Safety Demonstration campaign will remind passengers of the consequences of not wearing a seat belt in the rear seat and motivating them to buckle up 100 percent of the time.
Whether you are in the front or back, seat belts make every seat safer in a crash. There are common misconceptions that riding in the rear seat without a seat belt is not dangerous because the back seat is safer than the front. This belief shows a lack of knowledge of the dangers of not buckling up in the rear seat.
New York has been a national leader in passenger safety, becoming the first state in the country to require front seat belt use in 1984. Prior to 2020, passengers over the age of 16 in New York State were not required to wear a seat belt in the rear seat of a motor vehicle. In November 2020, New York joined the list of 20 states that require all adult occupants to wear a seat belt regardless of where they sit in passenger vehicles.
A 12-month analysis of crash data after the expansion of the New York State seat belt law found only 79 percent of rear-seat adult passengers in a speeding vehicle were restrained at the time of the crash.
“It is imperative to buckle up all the time for every trip, no matter who is driving or where you are sitting,” said GTSC Chair and DMV Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder. “Wearing your seat belt has been proven to be one of the best and most effective ways to save your life and the lives of others during a crash. The back seat is just as dangerous as the front—an unbuckled back seat passenger can fly forward in a crash and injury or kill themselves or someone in the front seat. Our motto is buckle up front or back. It’s the law.”
The “Buckle Up in The Back” campaign is aimed at reversing the data that shows less rear seat belt use. Nationwide in 2020, there were 857 passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes who were unrestrained in the second row. In the same year, 59 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed were unrestrained in the second row, based on known restraint use.
Recent studies indicate most rear-seat passengers don’t view riding unrestrained as a high-risk behavior. Common reasons for not buckling up in the rear seat include:
• Comfort – they enjoy laying down in the back seat or feel that the seat belt makes it harder to move around.
• Safety – people believe the misconception that the back seat is safer because of the distance from the windshield and have a false sense of feeling protected by the seats in front of them.
• Warnings – people are not reminded to buckle up when in the back seat because many vehicles are not equipped with warning alerts for the rear seat positions like there commonly are for the front positions.
To help maintain your safety, keep the following in mind whenever you or your passengers ride in the rear seat
• Being buckled up keeps you safe, secure, and inside a vehicle. Being ejected from a vehicle is almost always fatal.
• Buckle your seat belt in all vehicular transportation. This includes for-hire rides such as taxis, limousines, Uber, and Lyft.
For more information, visit https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/seat-belts#the-issue-back-seat
###