Better Car Seat Belt Minders Could Save Lives, Says IIHS Study

Rising fatality rates draw focus on these preventable tragedies

By Emily A. Thomas, PhD

Despite the common knowledge that seat belts save lives, the number of unbelted fatalities is growing. Almost half of the people sitting in either the driver or front passenger seats who were killed in crashes in 2019 were not wearing seat belts, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a 14 percent increase in unrestrained passenger vehicle fatalities between 2019 and 2020. (Learn how seat belts work.)

To help combat this trend, the IIHS today launched its initial seat belt reminder ratings to draw attention to the models that do it well, and those that could most benefit from improvements.

The safety organization started with an evaluation of 26 small and midsized SUVs. Among those, only two models, the Subaru Forester and Ascent, received the highest Good rating by meeting the criteria for the front and second row. Five models—the Hyundai Palisade, Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Rogue, and Nissan Murano—earned the Acceptable designation.

Seat belt reminders—alarms that sound when an occupant is unbelted—could prevent some of those fatalities, says Joe Young, a spokesperson for the IIHS. “This isn’t a safety feature that has gotten a lot of attention since most people do buckle up.”

However, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which govern how systems should operate, require seat belt reminder systems only for drivers; most vehicles include reminders for the front passenger as well. In previous studies, the IIHS found that vehicles with persistent reminder systems were effective in getting people to buckle up and that adding more noticeable, persistent alarms could prevent an estimated 1,500 fatalities a year. “The gold standard is an alert that is impossible to ignore,” says Sean O’Malley, IIHS senior test coordinator.

The IIHS ratings primarily evaluate the volume, duration, and timing of the audible alert for the vehicle seat belt reminder systems. The focus is on the driver and front-seat passenger for the majority of the protocol. However, they also incorporate an evaluation for rear-seated passengers, specifically when a rear passenger unbuckles during a trip. Based on the initial ratings, the IIHS indicates that there is much room for improvement on seat belt reminder systems. “We expect some improvements could come quickly since many of the poorer performing systems could benefit from simple software adjustments,” Young says.

The IIHS’ seat belt reminder scores will not currently factor into the group’s Top Safety Pick ratings. Young says that more belt reminder ratings will be released within several months.

Based on 2020 data, rear-seat belt usage (80 percent) is about 10 percentage points lower than front-seat belt usage (90.3 percent). Work has been done to improve rear-seat safety, but progress has been slow. This includes the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which directed NHTSA to initiate a rule-making proceeding to require a seat belt use warning system for rear seats. A decade later, there is still no final rule in place to require and regulate rear belt reminders in new vehicles.

Consumer Reports found that just 30 percent of its rated model year 2021 vehicles were equipped with rear belt reminders. That’s why CR’s Rear-Seat Safety Score, launched in fall 2021, focuses on rear belt reminder systems, highlighting this important safety feature.

CR’s ratings differ from the IIHS ratings in that they seek to provide rear occupants with the same level of safety as front passengers. This includes a buckle-up reminder for rear occupants, as well as an alert when a passenger unbuckles. Our safety engineers also consider it important for the reminder systems to be visual, with accompanying audible alerts that escalate in volume and/or frequency if a passenger remains unbuckled.

Because the CR rear belt reminder evaluations are not measuring the sound levels or timing of the systems, there are slight variations in overall ratings between the two organizations.

“These new ratings from the IIHS complement CR’s rear-seat safety ratings, which include an evaluation of belt reminder systems for the rear seat,” says Jennifer Stockburger, director of operations at CR’s Auto Test Center. “Both sets of ratings show an opportunity for improvement and the potential benefit of increasing belt use rates to reduce fatalities and injuries for all vehicle occupants.”

For consumers, the messaging remains the same: Always wear your seat belt, regardless of your seating position. And if you’re shopping for a vehicle, consult both CR rear-seat safety scores and the IIHS seat belt reminder ratings to gain a holistic view of the safety available for all your passengers.

Read: What If Your Car Didn’t Have Seat Belts?

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