Seat belt use across Wisconsin is at an all-time high. In July, more than 88 percent of people riding in passenger vehicles said they wore their seat belts, according to a new Wisconsin Department of Transportation survey.
Law enforcement played an important role in the increase, said David Pabst, director of the state DOT Bureau of Transportation Safety.
“People know that they can be stopped purely for not wearing their seat belt, and I think people are deciding rather than having to deal with a traffic stop, it’s just simpler and better and certainly safer to wear your seatbelt,” he said.
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In the 2015 survey, 86 percent of people surveyed wore seat belts.
Children ages 5 to 15 were the most likely to wear their seat belts, while adults ages 25 to 59 were the least likely.
Despite the overall increase, a gender gap remains, Pabst said.
According to the study, 93 percent of women wore their seat belts while only 84 percent of men wore theirs.
Pabst said wearing seat belts is becoming a social norm and a large part of that is due to successful campaigns like Click It or Ticket.
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