Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most Americans were buckling up before a motor vehicle was in motion.
Since the pandemic, seat belt use has declined in more than half of states, and the biggest decreases are with Virginia drivers. Thirty states saw a decline in seat belt use from 2019 to 2022, including 9.8 percent in Virginia, 6.6 percent in Georgia and 5.1 percent in Ohio, the states with the highest declines.
A new study by car insurance savings and AllCar™ app Jerry also found that the number of people killed who were not wearing seat belts in 2022 increased 17 percent from 2019, and accounted for 42 percent of all fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.
Three years after the pandemic began in the United States, fatal motor vehicle crashes have increased. The first half of 2019 saw 15 percent fewer fatal crashes than the first half of 2023.
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Rebecca Barnabi
