Country Drivers aren't buckling up

New research from the TAC’s Road Safety Monitor has found a persistent gap between city and country driving habits: Victorians in regional areas are more than twice as likely to get behind the wheel without buckling up.

What the numbers show

 

Rural drivers are far less likely to buckle upShare of licence holders who drove without a seatbelt at least once in the past 12 months 0%2%4%6%8%Regional Victoria6.7%Metropolitan Melbourne2.8%Source: TAC Road Safety Monitor, 2025 (2,400+ Victorian licence holders surveyed)

Surveying more than 2,400 Victorian licence holders, the TAC found that 6.7% of regional drivers reported driving without a seatbelt at least once in the past 12 months, compared to 2.8% of drivers in metropolitan Melbourne. That gap has also been widening – regional non-compliance sat at 6% back in 2022.

Part of the picture is what regional drivers are behind the wheel of, and where. Rural respondents were far more likely to drive heavy vehicles (17%, compared to 3% in urban areas) and spend more time on high-speed open roads, both of which raise the stakes when a seatbelt isn’t worn.

Why it matters

The research also found that drivers who skip their seatbelt are more likely to engage in other risky behaviours behind the wheel, including speeding, drink-driving and fatigued driving – echoing a broader pattern of Victorian drivers combining risks rather than taking them one at a time.

 

Seatbelts dramatically cut the risk of dying in a crashReduction in risk of death in a crash when wearing a seatbelt, by seating position 0%20%40%60%80%100%Front-seat occupantsup to 50%Rear-seat passengersup to 75%Source: TAC road safety research, cited in TAC Road Safety Monitor 2025

The reason seatbelt use matters so much isn’t in dispute: wearing one reduces the risk of death in a crash by up to 50% for front-seat occupants and up to 75% for those in the back seat. As Victorian Roads and Road Safety Minister Paul Hamer put it, “it takes two seconds to put on a seatbelt, but for too many Victorians that habit isn’t sticking on every trip”. TAC CEO Tracey Slatter added that the findings “reinforce the need to keep encouraging every Victorian to buckle up, every trip.”

What’s next

The TAC is continuing to push a simple message: buckle up on every journey, regardless of distance or how familiar the road is. Short, local trips on roads drivers know well are exactly where the habit tends to slip.

Road trauma affects far more than the person behind the wheel. Victoria’s TAC scheme operates on a no-fault basis, meaning support is available to those injured in transport accidents regardless of how the crash happened.

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