WE Blog

Look at it as an affirmation that individual responsibility works. Or maybe it points to the lifesaving good a primary seat-belt law for adults could do for Kansas. In any case, authorities link the state’s 15-year low in traffic fatalities last year — 404, down from 468 in 2006 — to what’s reported as a 75 percent driver usage rate for seat belts. That rate still lags the nation’s 82 percent, but is 14 percentage points higher than Kansas’ 2002 rate. Sedgwick County’s usage rate was an impressive 80 percent last year, up from 59 percent in 2002. Whatever their reason for better buckling, Kansans should keep it up. As Pete Bodyk, traffic safety chief for the Kansas Department of Transportation, told the Topeka Capital-Journal: “The single most effective thing is to protect yourself and pay attention. Wear a seat belt, and make sure all your passengers are wearing seat belts.”