More South Carolina Drivers and Passengers Using Seatbelts

More South Carolinians are using seatbelts.

A new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that seatbelt usage in South Carolina increased from 86 percent in South Carolina in 2011 to 90 percent last year.

South Carolina’s seatbelt usage rate was 70 percent in 2005, the year that South Carolina enacted a tougher seatbelt usage law.

Officials credit South Carolina’s better seatbelt usage to education campaigns and enforcement of the tougher law.

The national average for seatbelt usage was 86 percent last year.