According to the Texas Transportation Institute, drivers in Texas are among the safest in the United States (prweb.com).  The Institute came to this conclusion after completing a statewide survey regarding safety belt use.

The 2008 survey found that 91.2% of drivers and front-seat passengers in Texas are using their seatbelts.  This is the third year in a row that the state has achieved a seatbelt usage rate of 90% or better.  By comparison, only 11 states achieved a percentage of 90% or more in 2007.

“Texas first hit the 90 percent mark in 2006,” Katie Womack, senior research scientist with TTI’s Center for Transportation Safety, said in a press release published on PRWeb. “When we first conducted a safety belt survey in 1985 in 12 Texas cities, only 14 percent of drivers and passengers were buckled up. But after the safety belt law was enacted in 1985, the usage rate jumped to 65 percent.”

Considering the fact that seatbelts save literally thousands of lives every year while also preventing more serious injuries - which, in turn, helps keep insurance rates down - every state should strive to achieve the same rate of seatbelt usage as the state of Texas.  I guess they really do everything bigger in Texas!