Road Safety

Troubling Statistics

The Rate of Seat Belt Use
A Transport Canada survey conducted in 2006 and 2007 revealed that the rate of seat belt use for all occupants of a vehicle was 93%.

However, according to a survey conducted by the SAAQ in 2008, seat belt use among drivers dropped to 90.1% during night time hours (10 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.). In fact, the rate of seat belt use among drivers decreases as the night grows later, from 90.8% between 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. to 87.2% between 2 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.

Furthermore, a Transport Canada study conducted in 2001 showed that the rate of seat belt use among rear seat occupants was 72%.

A Troubling Record
People who do not wear their seat belt are over-represented in accidents. More than 30% of drivers killed in a fatal crash had not buckled up. More than 40% of drivers under the age of 25 who died in 2009 were not wearing a seat belt.

Out of the number of individuals (drivers and passengers) who died in a road accident between 2005 and 2009, an average of 120 were not wearing their seat belt. In addition, an average of 325 individuals sustained serious injuries under the same conditions.

When SAAQ records were matched with records from the coroner's office for 2002-2006, it was discovered that with deceased drivers on whom blood-alcohol tests were performed, the rate of seat belt use decreased as the blood-alcohol level increased. For a blood-alcohol level between 0 and 80 mg/100 ml of blood, 27% of deceased drivers were not wearing their seat belt, whereas for a blood-alcohol level of 81 mg/100 ml of blood or higher, 60% of drivers had not buckled up.

If all vehicle occupants used their seat belt, 60 deaths and 162 serious injuries could be prevented every year.

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