Driving in a car can be dangerous. One way to make it safer is by always wearing a seat belt, no matter if you are the driver or a passenger or sitting in the back or the front seat.  According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, the use of a seat belt is the single most effective way to help protect yourself in the event of an automobile accident. Even with the known safety benefits of wearing a seat belt, the national average for the rate of use is only 90.1 percent, which means almost 10 percent of people are not using their seat belts.

An insurance company recently completed a survey about usage of seat belts. The insurance company surveyed over 2000 people from each of these generations: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. The results of this survey found that seat belt use has decreased for young passengers and drivers. The percentage of by generation according to this survey was: Baby Boomers 94 percent, Gen Xers 87 percent, Millenials 81 percent and Gen Zers 77 percent.  We should work to ensure that all people from all generations are always wearing their seat belts when they get into a motor vehicle.

One way we can help to increase seat belt usage in the younger generation is by setting a good example for our children. By always buckling our own seat belts and ensuring that their seat belts are in use before leaving, we can have a higher volume of seat belt usage on the roadways. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, research has shown that children whose parents use their seat belts and much more likely to also use their seat belts. By enforcing seat belt usage while children are young, we can help to make them more likely to wear their seat belts later in life, thus helping to keep them safer.