Seat Belt Safety

On May 20, 2002, Washington Legislature passed a bill making our state's seat belt law a primary offense. As a result, a motorist can be pulled over and ticketed for not wearing a seat belt.

• Air bags do not take the place of seat belts - a deploying air bag can cause a fatality if the occupant is not belted
• People who are belted have a greater survival rate in collisions - a belted person has a 70% chance of surviving a crash vs. a non-belted person
• Collisions are the leading cause of death for children age 4-14 and in 2000, more than half of all children killed in crashes in the U.S. were completely unrestrained

Fleet Services, in compliance with state law requires that:

• The driver and all passengers wear their seat belts at all times - it is the driver's responsibility to ensure compliance with this guideline
• A seat belt be available for all passengers - the number of passengers in a vehicle must not exceed the number of available seat belts