Where Americans Are Least likely To Wear Seat Belts

George Cayley invented the seat belt in the mid-19th century but the first modern three point belt only appeared in vehicles in 1955, having been patented by Roger W. Griswold and Hugh DeHaven. Since then, seat belts have saved countless lives with a 1984 U.S. analysis finding that front seat passenger fatality reduction ranged from 20 to 55 percent. The same was true of major injury which was reduced between 25 and 60 percent.

Given how vital seat belts have become to safety on our roads, which U.S. states are buckling up the least? Some of the reasons for avoiding seat belts include discomfort, indifference and pure laziness. Data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation found that 97.1 percent of people in the state of Georgia wear their seat belts while the lowest levels of usage were recorded in New Hampshire at just 67.6 percent. Neighboring Massachusetts was the second worst state for seat belt usage at just 73.7 percent.