CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — After setting a record high for seat belt usage in 2023, the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) announced that rates are down a little in 2024.
In 2023, 93% of West Virginians complied with seat belt laws, and in 2024, the usage percentage was 91.98%, which is close to the national average of 91.9%, the West Virginia Department of Transportation said in a press release.
Law enforcement in West Virginia will be targeting seat belt violations especially hard in West Virginia—as well as Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.—during the Columbus Day weekend from Oct. 11-14, according to the release, because those states have among the most traffic fatalities.
“West Virginia law enforcement officers will be out in full force, ticketing seat belt violators who are caught traveling without a buckled seat belt or transporting unrestrained children,” GHSP Director Jack McNeely said in the release.