With the investigation of two separate vehicle accidents that ejected multiple people out of vehicles, Indiana State Police troopers urge drivers and passengers to use seat belts.
Indiana law requires all passengers to be restrained while in a moving vehicle. Children and adults need to be properly restrained while the vehicle is in operation. If anyone is observed not wearing a seat belt, law enforcement can write a ticket for the law violation.
A total of 21,022 drivers and passengers died in 2014 as the result of motor vehicle crashes and more than 2.3 million people were injured and treated in emergency departments, as detailed by America’s Health Rankings United Health Foundation. In addition to those statistics, over half of teens and adults who died in those crashes were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.
Information compiled by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute revealed that there were 250 unrestrained passenger vehicle fatalities in Indiana. That is a 31.6 percent decrease from the previous year.
In June 2015, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute Law Enforcement Liaison conducted an observation seat belt study to determine usage rates for drivers and passengers of all vehicles. That study found that pickup truck occupant usage rates for 2015 was at 83.1 percent and the car rate was at 94.8 percent.
Troopers ask that everyone buckles up every time for every trip, long or short.
