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Supporters of a tougher seat belt law in South Carolina argued that it would get more people to buckle up, which would save lives. Apparently, it's working.

State lawmakers passed the primary enforcement seat belt law in 2005 and it went into effect December 9th. Under primary enforcement, a police officer or trooper can pull you over if he sees that you're not buckled up. Before, he could give you a ticket only if he pulled you over for some other violation first.

A new survey done for the state Office of Highway Safety in June found that 72.5 percent of people in the state are wearing safety belts, compared to 69.5 percent in April. In June of last year, the number was 69.7 percent.

The difference is the new law, and the "Buckle Up South Carolina: It's the law and it's enforced" campaign that ran from May 14th to June 4th of this year. It included radio and TV spots to make sure everyone was aware of the new law, coupled with a stepped-up enforcement effort.

Phil Riley, with the Office of Highway Safety, says, "The law has meant that more lives are saved. Right now, we're at 513 as far as fatalities for the year. That compares to 598 last year. That's a 13 percentage-point decrease in fatalities. That's pretty significant. That's more folks living that wouldn't have been living just a few months ago."

The survey, which was conducted by USC's statistics department, sampled 16 counties, both rural and urban, to get a representative cross-section of the state. The survey found that Greenville County had the highest seat belt usage at 78.6 percent, followed by Darlington County 76.9 percent.

The three counties with the lowest rates were: Clarendon-62.1 percent; Fairfield-62.7 percent; and Horry-65.8 percent.

The survey also found that women are more likely to buckle up than men, 79.3 percent for women compared to 67.6 percent for men. Selena Harris of Columbia says she's been wearing her seat belt, and making sure her children wear theirs, since before the primary enforcement law. "Because of the safety and, driving, you never know. You have to watch out for yourself and others," she says.

The survey also found that people who live in urban areas are more likely to buckle up than those in rural areas, and whites are more likely to wear seat belts than other racial groups.

The group least likely to buckle up is minority men who live in rural areas and drive pickup trucks. But Tony Thompson, who's white and drives a pickup, says he always wears his.  "One, it's the law. And two, it saves lives, " he says.

Riley says, "If we can get the message out to minorities and the rural males about the new primary seat belt law and the stepped up enforcement, that'll go a long ways to more lives being saved on the highway."