With our top transportation official lauding Americans for their improvements in seat belt use, we decided to review the top and bottom of the class, according to new 2008 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The states with the highest rates of use:
1. Michigan - 97.2%
2. Hawaii - 97.0%
3. Washington - 96.5%
4. Oregon - 96.3%
5. California - 95.7%
The statistical stragglers:
45. Rhode Island - 72%
46. S. Dakota - 71.8
47. Mississippi - 71.3%
48. N.H. - 69.2
49. Wyoming - 68.6%
50. Massachusetts - 66.8%
Maybe can conclude that Pacific breezes (and the freezing winds of Lake Michigan) inspire people to buckle up, while a Yankee independent streak leads them not to. But Massachusetts, in particular, is a surprise for worst-in-class. In most statistical categories (education, income, etc.), the state tends to be an overachiever. And yet only two-thirds of these bookish, well-to-do drivers are buckling up?
Assuming that the measurement mechanism is solid and the same in all states (photo analysis from roadside cameras, maybe?), the explanation probably comes down to cultural factors and how diligent local authorities are about enforcement.
Drawing on personal experience for a moment, I grew up in New Hampshire and will admit to being a less than model user of seat belts. But I never got cited there or in Massachusetts, where I also lived for a while. More recently, I spent a couple of years in Iowa, which has a high seat belt use rate. Within a month or two of moving to the state, I got an $80 citation. Subsequently, my habits improved considerably.
(Photo via: AlanCaldwell on Flickr)
April 6th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Massachusetts drivers are the worst at everything. Except finding their way around Massachusetts. They’re the _only_ ones who can do that.
Seriously, I have never been so aggressively tailgated as the year I lived in Massachusetts. Maybe that’s why they’ve got a universal health insurance mandate.