Seat belts could save more than 4,000/yr.

BALTIMORE, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- On any given day about 38 U.S. passenger vehicle occupants who are not buckled up are killed in motor vehicle crashes, transportation officials say.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Region 3 office -- which covers Washington, D.C.; Delaware; Kentucky; Maryland; North Carolina; Virginia and West Virginia -- has planned a special police mobilization throughout the Thanksgiving holiday to focus on seat belt usage among drivers and passengers.

"The holidays are happy times, but unfortunately, they can also be deadly," Elizabeth Baker, administrator for the NHTSA Region 3 office, says in the statement.

Seat belt use is at a record high of 85 percent nationwide, but 45 million Americans still fail to buckle up when they get in a motor vehicle, Baker says. In 2008 nearly 13,000 people who were unbuckled lost their lives on U.S. roadways, and it is estimated that nearly one-third of these lives could have been saved if they had been properly belted, Baker says.

NHTSA research shows when lap and shoulder belts are used properly, the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants is reduced by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent.