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Buckle Up, Even if in the Back Seat
(IRN)-Traffic safety advocates are taking aim at back seat passengers who don't wear seat belts.

Not wearing a seat belt is legal for back seat passengers over 18 in Illinois, and Mike Stout, director of the IDOT Division of Traffic Safety, acknowledges that most adults don't often ride in the back seat, "but it's a very dangerous situation if you're in a crash, and [you're] in the back and you don't have your belt on," he says.

Last year in Illinois, 74 back seat passengers were killed in crashes. Only 27 percent were properly restrained. Of those who were killed while driving or riding in the front seat, 47 percent were seat belted, suggesting that the back seat has potential for safety improvement if more occupants would wear seat belts.

Furthermore, for those injured, hospital bills for those who were properly belted in the back seat were 69 percent of what the bills were for the unbelted.

IDOT is releasing these findings as it announces a Click it or Ticket campaign for Thanksgiving weekend. State police and more than 150 local departments will be establishing enforcement zones through Sunday (Nov. 28).

(Illinois Radio Network)
11 22 10 by Newsroom
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