The Nation - News from June 26, 1988

The use of automobile seat belts has quadrupled in the last six years, according to the Gallup Poll. More than two-thirds of adults, 69%, report having “buckled up” the last time they rode in a car, the survey said. This is up only slightly from last year’s figure of 65%, but it represents a fourfold increase from 1982, when only 17% used their belts. In Gallup’s first poll, in 1973, 28% reported wearing their belts. The recent surge in the use of seat belts has been accompanied by growing public tolerance of penalties for those who fail to use them. At present, 54% favor and 43% oppose a law that would fine a person $25 if he or she did not wear a seat belt when riding in a car.