Tag: seatbelt

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Replacing a Worn Out Seatbelt

Q: My seatbelt seems to be wearing out. The buckle doesn’t always work right and the belt has some frayed spots on it. Are there any rules about replacing it? Can I just go buy one a used one from a wrecking yard?

A: I’d like to begin by acknowledging your regular seatbelt use. You didn’t come right out and say it, but a seatbelt doesn’t get worn out if no one ever pulls it out from its retractor. So after years of doing the right thing, your seatbelt is showing some wear.

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Who Doesn’t Buckle Up?

Instead of a reader asking me a question, this week I have a question for you: Do you know anyone that’s received a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt? It’s entirely possible that you don’t. Washington ranks in the top five states for seatbelt use, with close to 95 percent of vehicle occupants wearing a seatbelt. The four states ahead of us are mostly neighbors; Oregon, California, Hawaii (sort of a neighbor), and Georgia, the geographic outlier. The state with the lowest rate of seatbelt use? New Hampshire, at about 68 percent. Its state motto is, “Live free or die.” I’m pretty sure General John Stark was not thinking about seatbelts when he wrote that in 1809, but that’s the reason many New Hampshirites (is that what you call them?) give for why they don’t want a seatbelt law.

How do we know the percentage of seatbelt users in each state? Because there are people watching you drive. Creepy? It’s not as bad as it sounds. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) conducts annual seatbelt observations using trained observers to watch for seatbelt use at pre-identified locations around the state. If you want all the details about this spying (it’s not really spying) you can read the full report at the WTSC website.

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