Why have Americans stopped wearing seatbelts? Deaths involving unbelted people being ejected from cars rocket by 20% in a year even though roads were quieter during COVID lockdowns

 The number of people killed after being involved in a car crash while not wearing their seat belt rocketed by 20% last year, even though the roads were much quieter because of COVID.  

A recently-released National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report noted that there were 6,052 deaths caused by ejections in 2020 but just 5,059 in 2019, an increase of 20%. There were 18,685 deaths not caused by ejections in 2020 but 19,287 in 2019, an increase of just 3%. 

It also noted that there were 11,883 deaths of people not wearing seatbelts in 2020 but just 10,369 in 2019, an increase of 15%. The number of deaths among people wearing seatbelts went down 3%, from 11,844 deaths in 2019 to 11,512 in 2020.

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Traffic deaths spiked 20% in 2020 because people not wearing their seatbelts were ejected from their cars

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a report in May on traffic deaths that concluded the spike in deaths came even as traffic decreased

The federal agency noted that the percentage of unrestrained passenger deaths increased from March, when lockdown measures went into effect, through December. The largest spike happened in the month of April when unbelted passengers made up 55% of traffic deaths, compared to just 45% in 2019. 

The report also drilled into other measurements of traffic deaths in 2020, including that fatal accidents increased 11% at night. Fatal accidents involving speeding were up 11 %, and police-reported crashes involving alcohol were up 9%.

Fatal accidents among younger age groups were all up at least 14% while fatal accidents among people 65 and older were down 9%, perhaps a factor of the pandemic as many among the elderly were confined to their homes.

In perhaps another effect of the pandemic, the federal agency noted that there was increased in fatality rate per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled on rural roads and urban roads, particularly last April as people fled cities.

Last month, the Governors Highway Safety Association also released a report detailing pedestrian related deaths during 2020, which it said was the largest annual increase since it started collecting the data decades ago.

The association revealed that pedestrian deaths in 2020 increased by 21% from 2019, noting that another factor is the 'increasing shift in U.S. vehicle sales away from passenger cars to light trucks.'

Data from the Federal Highway Administration shows that travel on all roads and streets in the country fell for each month of 2020 at least 8.6% compared to 2019.

The biggest traffic decreases were last April, when road traffic fell 39.8%, and May when it fell 25.5%. The data shows traffic is starting to resume as lockdown measures are lifted, with traffic increasing 19% from last March, the onset of the pandemic.

In New York City, however, pedestrian deaths were expected to hit a record low, The Wall Street Journal reported in mid-December.

The paper reported that the Big Apple recorded 234 total road deaths through December 16, 115 of which were driving or riding in cars and on motorcycles.