GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — It has been nearly 20 years since Michigan enacted a primary seat belt law.
The 20th anniversary of Michigan’s primary seat belt law taking effect is on Tuesday, March 10.
Prior to the law, Michigan’s seat belt use rate was around 70%, according to the Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP). It’s been as high as 97.9% in 2009 and currently is at 94.4%. This law is one of the main reasons traffic fatalities in Michigan have fallen from nearly 1,500 per year in the 1990s to less than 1,000 in 2018, OHSP said in a press release Monday.
“Over the last two decades, 3,454 lives have been saved because of the seat belt law,” said OHSP's director Michael L. Prince. “You’ve heard it a million times, but it is still important to remember buckling up really does save lives.”
Michigan's primary seat belt law means law enforcement can stop and ticket drivers solely for not buckling up.
The law requires passengers between the ages of 8 and 15 to buckle up in all seating positions.The law requires all drivers and front seat passengers to be buckled up as well.
Michigan's children passenger safety law, which is part of the primary seat belt law, requires children younger than 4 to ride in the car seat in the back of a vehicle, if the vehicle has a back seat. A child in a rear-facing car seat may only ride in the front seat if the airbag is turned off.
Children must be properly buckled in a car seat or booster seat until they are 8-years-old or 4'9" tall -- whichever comes first.
To view Michigan's seat belt law, click here.
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