4 out of 10 Traffic Accident Deaths Involve 'No Seatbelt Use'

15% of Vehicle Occupants Not Wearing Seat Belts

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] It has been revealed that 4 out of 10 traffic accident fatalities were not wearing seat belts.

According to the '2020 Traffic Culture Index Survey' results by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority on the 14th, 15% of vehicle occupants were found not to wear seat belts.

Although wearing seat belts in all seats was mandated in September 2018, as of last year, the seat belt wearing rate for all seats was 84.83%, a decrease of only 0.09 percentage points compared to 2019.

In particular, the front seat had a rate of 86.16%, while the rear seat remained at 37.2%, indicating that awareness of seat belt use still needs improvement.

By region, the areas with the largest decrease in overall seat belt wearing rates compared to the previous year were Jeollabuk-do (68.04%, down 7.32 percentage points) and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (86.67%, down 7.13 percentage points).

Among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, 8 regions showed a decline compared to the previous year.

This trend was especially evident in the survey results of seat belt wearing rates on highways for all seats, where the seat belt wearing rate for commercial vehicles on highways dropped by 10 percentage points to 76.47% compared to the previous year, and for non-commercial vehicles, it decreased by 2.1 percentage points to 89.62%.

Among 1,768 traffic accident fatalities over the past three years (2017?2019) whose seat belt usage status was confirmed, 651 (36.82%) died due to not wearing seat belts, meaning about 4 out of 10 people were not wearing seat belts.

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority is conducting an On-tact traffic safety campaign for 7 days from the 8th to the 14th to prevent traffic accidents by encouraging seat belt use in all seats during this Lunar New Year holiday period.

Kwon Yong-bok, the director of the Authority, emphasized, “The seat belt wearing rate in all seats in advanced traffic safety countries such as Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand is over 95%,” adding, “To have a safe holiday, please make sure to wear seat belts in all seats when riding in a vehicle and actively participate in protecting precious lives.”