Emory Center Wins Grant to Study Georgia Seat Belt, Distraction Rates

The Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory will measure seat belt use and driver distraction across 20 counties in the state.

Apr. 1, 2026 at 10:07am

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A ghostly X-ray image showing the internal structure of a car dashboard and steering wheel, with glowing lines highlighting safety features like seat belts and airbags, conceptually representing the data on seat belt use and driver distraction.An X-ray view of a car's safety features underscores the importance of seat belt use and distraction reduction to prevent traffic fatalities.Atlanta Today

The Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory (IPRCE) has been awarded $302,150 from the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) to measure rates of seat belt use and driver distraction in Georgia this year. Between May and August 2026, IPRCE will send trained observers to 400 sites in 20 counties across the state to observe seat belt use and document hand-held device use by drivers.

Why it matters

This data will provide insights into the factors that affect safe driving behaviors in Georgia, including gender, race/ethnicity and age group. The findings will help the state target efforts to increase seat belt use and reduce distracted driving, which are key to reaching the goal of zero traffic deaths by the middle of this century.

The details

The funding will help IPRCE continue its annual roadside observations of seat belt use and driver distraction in Georgia. In 2025, the data showed seat belt use was higher for right-front passengers (92.2%) than drivers (87.0%), and highest in minivans (95.7%) and lowest in trucks (79.0%). Seat belt use was also higher for women (90.7%) than men (85.5%). Hand-held device use by drivers decreased from 6.6% in 2024 to 5.1% in 2025, but was still higher in metro Atlanta (5.9%) compared to other areas.

  • The roadside observations will take place between May and August 2026.
  • This will be the fifth consecutive year that IPRCE has estimated seat belt use rates using this method.

The players

Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory (IPRCE)

A collaborative, multi-institutional research center working to mitigate the impact of injury in Georgia and the Southeast region.

Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS)

The state agency that awarded the $302,150 grant to IPRCE for this project.

Jonathan Rupp, PhD

The director of IPRCE at Emory University School of Medicine and professor and vice chair for innovation and discovery in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory.

Allen Poole

The director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

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What they’re saying

“The rate of seat belt use for drivers and right front passengers in Georgia during daylight hours was 87.9% in 2025, which is effectively unchanged from the 2024 rate. In contrast, rates of hand-held cell phone use by Georgia drivers significantly decreased to 5.1% in 2025 from 6.6% in 2024. We hope the data will help the state target efforts to increase seat belt use and reduce distraction.”

— Jonathan Rupp, PhD, Director of IPRCE at Emory University School of Medicine

“Innovative projects like this are designed to help Georgia and our nation to reach the realistic goal of zero traffic deaths by the middle of this century. Each life saved on our roads is one less family that will have to live with the pain of losing a loved one whose life was taken from them in a traffic crash that was completely preventable.”

— Allen Poole, Director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety

What’s next

The roadside observations of seat belt use and driver distraction will be performed in 20 Georgia counties starting in May 2026.

The takeaway

This study will provide critical data to help Georgia policymakers and transportation safety advocates target interventions to increase seat belt use and reduce distracted driving, which are essential to achieving the state's goal of zero traffic fatalities by 2050.