82% of those killed in Nebraska crashes this year weren’t wearing seat belt

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Officials have been trying to increase seat belt usage for decades, but they for say a certain percentage of Nebraskans, the message just isn’t clicking.

“It’s an easy fix,” said John Lefler, executive director of the Nebraska Safety Council. “It’s hard to say that, but it really is.”

So far in 2023, 79 out of 96 people who died in a car crash were not wearing a seat belt, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

“Based on the data that we’ve received from the past two years with crashes with fatalities, we’re going in the wrong direction,” Lefler said.

In July, 15 of 23 people killed in crashes were without a seat belt.

“People come up with some all kinds of excuses on why they don’t want to be belted in, but the fact of the matter is, their chances of being killed and injured are so much greater if they’re not belted in,” Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said.

Experts say we can do more to convince others to click it.

“It begins with parents and adults modeling that behavior,” Lefler said. “Especially with younger ones that maybe say, ‘It’s uncomfortable,’ or, ‘I don’t like the way it fits.’ Look at the fit of the seat belt.”

Nebraskans won’t get pulled over for not wearing a seat belt.

Because Nebraska is a secondary enforcement state, officers would need to pull you over for another reason before adding that citation.

There have been groups pushing to make seat belts a primary offense, but it has yet to happen.

Safety advocates warn that it’s not just about you losing your life, but also those you leave behind.

“That’s 79 families,” Lefler said. “That’s 79 groups of friends. That’s 79 work associates that that affects. There’s a mental toll that takes on these people when you lose someone in a crash like this.”