Indiana drivers and front-seat passengers are buckling up at record rates, according to observational field surveys conducted following the 2004 “Click It or Ticket” campaign.
Data collected last month by the Center for the Advancement of Transportation Safety at Purdue University showed 83.4 percent of all drivers and front-seat passengers in Indiana were restrained. That figure, the highest in state history, compares to 82.3 percent recorded during the same time period last year.
“This is phenomenally exciting news for traffic safety in Indiana,” said Jerry McCory, director of the Governor’s Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving. “Drivers across the state are heeding our message and buckling up. That translates into lives saved on our roads.”
This year, the highest rate of seat belt usage – more than 90 percent – was among female drivers and passengers. Male drivers and passengers, in contrast, were buckled up at a rate of roughly 78 percent.
The June data showed an overall usage increase of roughly 7 percent from the beginning of the 2004 “Click It or Ticket” campaign, during which law enforcement agencies statewide cited more than 13,000 drivers and passengers for not complying with Indiana’s mandatory seat belt law.
Although overall seat belt usage increased from 2003 to 2004, the usage rate among pickup truck drivers and passengers remained virtually unchanged – about 57 percent for the past two years. Nonetheless, seat belt usage among pickup truck drivers and passengers has dramatically increased from 33 percent in 1999.
Pickup truck drivers and passengers currently are not required to wear seat belts under state law, but a May 2004 Indianapolis Star/WTHR (Channel 13) poll indicated that 71 percent of Hoosiers support expanding the law to include pickups.
Chapter 10. Passenger Restraint Systems
IC 9-19-10-1
Application of chapter
Sec. 1. This chapter does not apply to an occupant of a motor
vehicle who meets any of the following conditions:
(1) For medical reasons should not wear safety belts, provided
the occupant has written documentation of the medical reasons
from a physician.
(2) Is a child required to be restrained by a child restraint
system under IC 9-19-11.
(3) Is traveling in a commercial or a United States Postal
Service vehicle that makes frequent stops for the purpose of
pickup or delivery of goods or services.
(4) Is a rural carrier of the United States Postal Service and is
operating a vehicle while serving a rural postal route.
(5) Is a newspaper motor route carrier or newspaper bundle
hauler who stops to make deliveries from a vehicle.
(6) Is a driver examiner designated and appointed under
IC 9-14-2-3 and is conducting an examination of an applicant
for a permit or license under IC 9-24-10.
(7) Is an occupant of a farm truck being used on a farm in
connection with agricultural pursuits that are usual and normal
to the farming operation, as set forth in IC 9-29-5-13(b)(2).
(8) Is an occupant of a motor vehicle participating in a parade.
(9) Is an occupant of the living quarters area of a recreational
vehicle.
(10) Is an occupant of the treatment area of an ambulance (as
defined in IC 16-18-2-13).
(11) Is an occupant of the sleeping area of a tractor.
(12) Is an occupant other than the operator of a vehicle
described in IC 9-20-11-1(1).
(13) Is an occupant other than the operator of a truck on a
construction site.
(14) Is a passenger other than the operator in a cab of a Class A
recovery vehicle or a Class B recovery vehicle who is being
transported in the cab because the motor vehicle of the
passenger is being towed by the recovery vehicle.
(15) Is an occupant other than the operator of a motor vehicle
being used by a public utility in an emergency as set forth in
IC 9-20-6-5.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.67-2004, SEC.2;
P.L.214-2007, SEC.6.
IC 9-19-10-2
Use of safety belt by motor vehicle occupants; safety belt standards
Sec. 2. Each occupant of a motor vehicle equipped with a safety
belt that:
(1) meets the standards stated in the Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard Number 208 (49 CFR 571.208); and
(2) is standard equipment installed by the manufacturer;
shall have a safety belt properly fastened about the occupant's body
at all times when the vehicle is in forward motion.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.214-2007, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-10-2.5
Repealed
(Repealed by P.L.67-2004, SEC.14.)
IC 9-19-10-3
Repealed
(Repealed by P.L.214-2007, SEC.10.)
IC 9-19-10-3.1
Stopping, inspecting, or detaining vehicle; checkpoints
Sec. 3.1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a vehicle may
be stopped to determine compliance with this chapter. However, a
vehicle, the contents of a vehicle, the driver of a vehicle, or a
passenger in a vehicle may not be inspected, searched, or detained
solely because of a violation of this chapter.
(b) A law enforcement agency may not use a safety belt
checkpoint to detect and issue a citation for a person's failure to
comply with this chapter.
As added by P.L.214-2007, SEC.8.
IC 9-19-10-4
Educational programs
Sec. 4. The bureau, in cooperation with the Indiana department of
transportation, division of traffic safety, shall develop and administer
educational programs for the purpose of informing the general public
of the benefits that will inure to passengers using safety belts.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-10-5
Retail sales, leases, trades, and transfers
Sec. 5. A person may not buy, sell, lease, trade, or transfer from
or to Indiana residents at retail an automobile that is manufactured or
assembled, commencing with the 1964 models, unless the
automobile is equipped with safety belts installed for use in the front
seat.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-10-6
Belt and installation specifications
Sec. 6. (a) A safety belt must be of a type and must be installed in
a manner approved by the bureau.
(b) The bureau shall establish specifications and requirements for
approved types of safety belts and attachments to the safety belts.
(c) The bureau shall accept, as approved, a seat belt installation
and the belt and anchor meeting the Society of Automotive
Engineers' specifications.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-10-7
Failure to comply; fault; liability of insurer; mitigation of damages
Sec. 7. (a) Failure to comply with section 1, 2, 3.1(a), or 4 of this
chapter does not constitute fault under IC 34-51-2 and does not limit
the liability of an insurer.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), evidence of the failure
to comply with section 1, 2, 3.1(a), or 4 of this chapter may not be
admitted in a civil action to mitigate damages.
(c) Evidence of a failure to comply with this chapter may be
admitted in a civil action as to mitigation of damages in a product
liability action involving a motor vehicle restraint or supplemental
restraint system. The defendant in such an action has the burden of
proving noncompliance with this chapter and that compliance with
this chapter would have reduced injuries, and the extent of the
reduction.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.121-1993, SEC.1;
P.L.1-1998, SEC.95; P.L.214-2007, SEC.9.
IC 9-19-10-8
Failure of front seat occupant to use belt; violation; classification;
assessment of points
Sec. 8. (a) A person who:
(1) is at least sixteen (16) years of age; and
(2) violates section 2 of this chapter;
commits a Class D infraction.
(b) The bureau may not assess points under the point system for
Class D infractions under this section.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.57-1998, SEC.3;
P.L.116-1998, SEC.3.
IC 9-19-10-9
Retail transfers of vehicles and belt and installation specifications;
violation; classification
Sec. 9. A person who violates section 5 or 6 of this chapter
commits a Class C infraction.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-11 Passenger Restraint Systems
for Children
IC 9-19-11-2 A person who operates a motor vehicle in which there is a child less than four (4) years of age who is not properly fastened and restrained by a child passenger restraint system commits a Class D infraction, unless it is reasonably determined that the child will not fit
in a child passenger restraint system.
