INTRO – Seat belt usage declined last year in North Carolina. George Olsen has more.
Triple A Carolinas reports that North Carolina’s seat belt usage rate declined in 2012. The rate was 87.5%, compared to 89.5% in 2011. The 2012 rate was above the national rate of 86% which was up from 84% the year before. The report notes that seat belt usage can reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45% and 60% in trucks. AAA says through the first half of this year, 41% of people killed in vehicle crashes in North Carolina were unrestrained… the same percentage as 2012. I’m George Olsen.