More Maryland residents are buckling up, but not in all circumstances, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT).
The department recently conducted the MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration 2017 Roadside Observational Survey and found 92 percent of drivers and front-seat passengers wear seatbelts, a 1.2 percent increase from 2016.
The survey, however, also discovered that seatbelt usage is less on local and rural roadways than it is on state roads. On local and rural roads, seatbelt use declined 1 percent to 85.1 percent of drivers and front-seat passengers.
When it comes to backseat passengers, seatbelt use was only 84 percent.
The study evaluated 50,000 roadside seatbelt observations in 13 jurisdictions. Seatbelt use rose the most in Frederick and Carroll counties and declined the most in Anne Arundel and Washington counties.
“During the holiday season, regardless of how far you are traveling, make sure to buckle up, along with all passengers in your car,” Christine Nizer, MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration administrator and Gov. Larry Hogan’s Highway Safety representative, said. “We don’t want to lose another life because someone wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.”
Seat belt non-compliance citations are an $83 fine.
Last year, approximately 43 percent of motor vehicle fatalities involved people who were unbelted.