— A 2022 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed that 69.3 percent of the 916 truck driver fatalities occurred when the driver was not wearing a seat belt, marking the second‑highest percentage of unbelted deaths since 2017.

Truck operators have long known that seat belts are a basic life‑saving device, yet the numbers suggest the habit is still far from universal. In that same year, roughly seven of every ten truck drivers killed in crashes were not buckled up, a statistic that underscores the continued gap between regulation and practice on the road.

Jessica Powell, a statistician in the FMCSA’s crash data analytics division, explained that the agency uses these figures to identify why the trend persists and to develop countermeasures. “We use this and other data to understand more about why this trend is continuing, why truck drivers are not using their seat belts, and countermeasures of how we can reduce this trend,” Powell said. The FMCSA’s own guidance stresses that a lap‑shoulder belt keeps the driver in place behind the steering wheel, allowing the vehicle’s structure to absorb impact and reducing the likelihood of the driver striking the wheel, shift lever, or windshield.

What This Means for Drivers

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